Challenges and opportunities to advancing telehealth: US telehealth resource centers' approach

Abstract

For the past thirty years, the United States Office for the Advancement of Telehealth has promoted the use of technology for health care, education, and health information services, and funds the National and Regional Telehealth Resource Centers (TRCs) to provide technical assistance to support stakeholder telehealth adoption. To assess the challenges and opportunities for the TRCs to advance telehealth, we reviewed publications, national and regional telehealth strategies, guidance from government agency reports and the TRC websites. We summarized information about the mission, funding and structure of the TRC program in terms of the shared service center model of organizational functioning, followed by a description of the TRCs' recent response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency.