Nurse Practitioners in Telehealth: Bridging the Gaps in Healthcare Delivery

• Nurse practitioners can use technology to coordinate care for their patients.
• Telehealth can improve quality and overcome geographic barriers to health care access.
• Technology can improve patients access to health care in a cost-effective manner.
• Telehealth is being used in hospitals, clinics, schools, businesses, and the home setting to improve health and lower the overall cost of care.

There is no denying that many changes must be made in the health care delivery system in order to meet the needs of all people and improve the health of our nation. Because of advances in technology over the past 2 decades, telehealth has greatly improved patient access to health care and equipped providers with innovative tools to provide quality health care to a larger population. The health care climate demands an innovative approach to health care delivery with an attention to scalable and sustainable models. Telehealth, and the use of nurse practitioners, will be an integral part of these new models.