| Autonomy versus Beneficence |
More patient input as stakeholders to tailor care to their needs and
preferences |
Suboptimal care if convenience prioritized over quality |
Establish core quality standards, such as script for scheduling patients
to ensure time and space dedicated to virtual visit to minimize
distractions, and treating telehealth as supplement rather than
replacement for traditional care with core proportion of visits required
in-person |
More data regarding stakeholder input and satisfaction as well as
outcomes; enhancement of visits with remote monitoring tools |
| Distributive Justice |
Increased access for patients who struggle with mobility or
transportation issues |
Exacerbation of existing disparities in patient populations with limited
digital access or health literacy |
Make digital platforms as simple and as accessible as possible and
increase access to support staff (less “tech-heavy” and more
“support-heavy”) |
Funding to ensure minimum standard of connectivity and device access
across populations |
| Unintended Consequences |
Benefits as above |
Reimbursement issues, unnecessary testing, clinician burnout, suboptimal
or incomplete execution of care plans |
Train clinicians in best practices, partner with community health
workers to optimize patient experience and follow-up, design care plans
that integrate telehealth with in-person visits guided by disease
severity and goals of care |
Durable compensation models for telehealth and incorporation into
value-based plans |
