Healing Power of Connection

Collaboration Through Crisis

As COVID-19 arrived in the United States, SCTA partners were prepared. Thanks to continued investment from the state, South Carolina is fortunate to have an extensive established telehealth network in place, allowing for a rapid telehealth response to the COVID-19 crisis. As SC citizens were urged to stay home and remain socially distant, telehealth played a key role in maintaining continuity of care and meeting patient and provider needs. More than that, the strong existing telehealth network helped to facilitate a culture of community, allowing SC residents not only to continue to access healthcare services, but also to feel a little less alone.

During the onset of COVID-19, South Carolina Telehealth Alliance (SCTA) partners were pressured to truly innovate new telehealth care models across the care continuum. Telehealth is being used to slow the spread of the virus; monitor and provide care to those infected with the disease; protect vulnerable patients; and maintain access to critical healthcare services. New telehealth use cases paired with a temporarily changed reimbursement landscape have allowed more providers to reach more patients during a critical time. The most compelling telehealth story of 2020, however, is one of patients feeling connected and supported by their healthcare providers during a time of encouraged physical isolation.