URI_Research_Magazine_Momentum_Fall_2020_Melissa-McCarthy

HEALTH CARE in a Post-Pandemic Society

written by THERESA BROWN ’20

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for health care more than ever before, prompting government, hospitals and doctors’ offices, to evaluate and revise how they manage care for patients. Health care reform is a perpetual political topic and has become more prominent in caring for patients during the pandemic. The biggest change in health care to emerge from the pandemic? A greater acceptance of virtual visits. Providers adopting virtual care creates access for remote patients as well opens up office time for those who need to be seen in person, according to

University of Rhode Island (URI) Nursing Professor Betty Rambur, who is the Routhier Endowed Chair for Practice. This transformation is also enabled, in part, by changes in the way care is reimbursed by insurers. “Clearly, we have taken giant steps forward in virtual care,” Rambur said. “Many providers have learned that they can effectively deliver virtual care, and what’s exciting about that is it also preserves face-to-face care for people who really need it.” The health care system is shifting away from a narrow focus on episodic care to incorporate accountability for longer-term outcomes as well

FALL | 2020 Page 39