American Academy of Neurology



Speak Up for Telehealth Op-Ed Instructions

• Customize. Make it personal. It’s your opinion.

o This op-ed does not mention the AAN on purpose, because we want you to make it your own. If you feel strongly about including the AAN in your op-ed, please send your draft to advocacy@ for review before sending to a publication.

• The general public is your audience. Explain how this issue affects patients.

• Simplify clinical terms so they are easily understood by all.

• Ensure any congressional names are spelled correctly, find your Representative and Senators.

• Keep the op-ed to 700 words or less.

• Each publication has op-ed submission instructions online. Complete form on their website to submit. Find out more information about local publications.

• If you or your public relations team has other contacts at the news publication, send an email to those contacts to let them know you submitted an op-ed. Ask them to send a note to the op-ed team on your behalf.

• If your op-ed is accepted and published, please let us know by sending a link to advocacy@.

OP-ED TEMPLATE

Telehealth: A Lifeline Amid a Pandemic

Our nation’s health care system faces unprecedented challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a practicing neurologist in [CITY] for [NUMBER] years, I have witnessed the strains on our health systems first-hand. But despite overwhelming obstacles, physicians and patients have quickly adapted, and almost overnight telehealth has become a key tool for delivering high-quality care for our patients.

This dramatic reshaping of our nation’s health systems now makes it easier for physicians to treat patients using digital technologies like real-time audio and video conferencing, secure emails with health information and data, as well as remote patient monitoring. Using these 21st century approaches to care has been critical in helping to slow the spread of COVID-19, reducing the number of patients needing hospitalization, and preserving life-saving personal protective equipment.

Many neurologists are serving on the front lines treating COVID-19 as part of neuro-ICU units, treating emerging neurologic complications, or aiding in the direct diagnosis and treatment of the virus. While the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 remains a top priority for physicians, patients requiring routine neurologic care are relying on telehealth to safely communicate with their physician care teams from home. Many routine appointments can be done via video conferencing which helps protect vulnerable patients from exposure to illnesses. For a stroke patient making their way to the hospital by ambulance, neurologists can communicate with emergency first responders to quickly diagnose and make life-saving decisions using telehealth technology. While this technology has existed for decades, regulatory and legislative burdens at every level of government have limited its widespread use.

Thankfully, our state and federal governments have taken many important steps to temporarily remove regulatory obstacles that have inhibited the broad use of telehealth, giving all patients greater access to telehealth services through the duration of the public health emergency. For example, Congress loosened restrictions on originating sites and geographic locations—arbitrary rules from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that limited telehealth to specific health facilities and only in certain parts of the country. These outdated rules severely limit telehealth services for patients in cities and for deployed military personnel. Congress also mandated that Medicare temporarily cover telehealth visits at the same level as in-office visits. This alone helped ensure that doctors could keep their doors open to their patients, in this case digitally, and expanded access to care for millions of Americans.

Now, more than ever, our nation’s leaders have the chance to make real and lasting improvements to our health care system that will protect the physician and patient relationship, help lower the cost of care, and bring our nation’s health system into the 21st century. As Congress wraps up its work before the summer recess, Senators [LAST NAME] and [LAST NAME], and Representative [LAST NAME] should fight to make these temporary changes to telehealth permanent, and ensure the changes apply to private insurance companies as well. Here at home, Governor [LAST NAME] should work with our neighboring states to allow for the delivery of telehealth across state lines, clarify licensure requirements, and modernize liability laws.

The traditional in-person visit between a physician and patient is the most ideal of circumstances. Some patients are more comfortable with a face-to-face encounter than with using technology. But with telehealth as a tool, patients will not have to choose between missing work and an important doctors’ appointment, nor will the most susceptible patients make the decision to forego care for fear of exposing themselves to other illness. Telehealth will help improve patient outcomes, because it reinforces the importance of the unique doctor and patient relationship.

Every American in every industry has adapted and risen to meet these unprecedented challenges. It is my sincere hope for my patients and for my profession that we transform these difficult lessons from this crisis into compassionate policies that will improve the quality of life for all of us. Over these last several months telehealth care has been a lifeline for millions of Americans. It would be foolish for us to let go of that lifeline.

[FIRST NAME LAST NAME, MEDICAL TITLES]

[CITY, STATE]

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