Digital health requires the effective involvement of health professionals, whether for telemedicine, video conferences, or mobile applications for consultations, screenings, or follow-up. To their credit, when the pandemic hit, hospitals and care units acted immediately in response to this need to maintain collaboration and care for their patients.

Telehealth increasingly is helping school nurses meet students’ physical and mental health needs, both in school and virtually—and lawmakers are recognizing its importance. At Children’s Health in Dallas, our partnership with over 225 schools across the Dallas metro area provides vital access to specialty support for children and teens and guidance around infection control.

With its lower latency and faster speeds that could help increase accuracy in real-time diagnosis and boost innovation in operating rooms, 5G could be the key that finally unlocks the full potential of telehealth just as demand and interest surges.

When the COVID-19 pandemic began in the U.S., one of the first action items to help the healthcare sector continue to treat patients was the temporary lifting of a variety of federal restrictions against telehealth usage. These changes, announced by Medicare chief Seema Verma, unleashed telehealth from HIPAA regulations that had historically hampered the adoption of telemedicine across state lines.

Sometimes critical information is overlooked, and a rare disease is not diagnosed until all other more common diagnoses have been ruled out. Unfortunately, a late diagnosis can make a substantial—even life-or-death—difference in a patient’s outcome.