Evidence strongly supports that access to specialty gastroenterology or hepatology care in cirrhosis is associated with higher adherence to guideline-recommended care and improves clinical outcomes.Presently, only about one half of acute care hospitalizations for cirrhosis-related complications result in inpatient specialty care and the current hepatology workforce cannot meet the demand of patients with liver disease nationwide, particularly in less densely populated areas and in community-based practices not affiliated with academic centers. Telemedicine, defined as the delivery of health care services at a distance using electronic means for diagnosis and treatment, holds tremendous promise to increase access to broadly specialty care. The technology is cheap and easy to use, however, is presently limited in scale by interstate licensing restrictions and reimbursement barriers.The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has, in the short-term, accelerated the growth of telemedicine delivery as a public health and social distancing measure. Herein, we examine whether this public health crisis can accelerate the national conversation about broader adoption of telemedicine for routine medical care in non-crisis situations using a case series from our telehepatology program as a pragmatic example. Services.(1) Widespread transmission of the virus has reached pandemic proportions and is nowbeginning to cause disruptions in daily life in the United States. As part of the public health response, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and private payers are lifting restrictions on telemedicine reimbursement to facilitate healthcare access while minimizing the spread of infection.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic posed significant challenges to clinicians practicing in outpatient settings focused on chronic disease treatment and management. Many interprofessional teams transitioned to telehealth to continue to provide care while minimizing in-person interaction to reduce risk of transmission. Given that telehealth will likely remain as a care option even as the pandemic subsides, this review summarizes the applied recommendations on telehealth in interprofessional patient care, provides practical insights for successfully transitioning care from an academic medical center bariatric surgery program, and highlights future opportunities for research.

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