Joint Commission issues new Quick Safety on telehealth

Editor's Note

The Joint Commission on October 7 issued a new Quick Safety that focuses on the use of telehealth to deliver patient care while preventing exposure to COVID-19.

Other benefits of telehealth in the Quick Safety include:

• promoting social distancing
• monitoring the progression of home-quarantined COVID-19 patients
• enabling providers who are quarantined but asymptomatic to provide care remotely
• reducing the use of PPE
• helping patients with transportation barriers connect with care providers.

Widespread use of telehealth was enabled by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in April 2020 (retroactive to March 1) and will last until the end of the emergency declaration.