Jason Taylor

And we could be kind of falling into this greater gap in health equity where the wealthy systems who are already serving a wealthy populace can move even faster and the underserved people become even less served if that's possible.

And we could be kind of falling into this greater gap in health equity where the wealthy systems who are already serving a wealthy populace can move even faster and the underserved people become even less served if that's possible.

Yeah, and there's even a further divide, which we probably don't like to talk about all that much, which is there is a safety net system. So there's 1,200 hospitals that are critical access. They tend to be mostly rural, and they tend to be bailed out.

Yeah, and there's even a further divide, which we probably don't like to talk about all that much, which is there is a safety net system. So there's 1,200 hospitals that are critical access. They tend to be mostly rural, and they tend to be bailed out.

So we as Americans, as our system, we're not going to let those 1,200 hospitals fail because we have a lot of people in more remote or rural communities that need health care. And every time they run into trouble, there is money to go bail them out. The thing is, though, Scott, those systems serve a population that's about 81 percent white. They're not serving the people of color.

So we as Americans, as our system, we're not going to let those 1,200 hospitals fail because we have a lot of people in more remote or rural communities that need health care. And every time they run into trouble, there is money to go bail them out. The thing is, though, Scott, those systems serve a population that's about 81 percent white. They're not serving the people of color.

They're not serving minorities because that's not typically where minorities live. And it's the urban safety net hospitals that are going to be in kind of more trouble if this trend continues, the Grady Health in downtown Atlanta or MLK here in Los Angeles.

They're not serving minorities because that's not typically where minorities live. And it's the urban safety net hospitals that are going to be in kind of more trouble if this trend continues, the Grady Health in downtown Atlanta or MLK here in Los Angeles.

I think there's been a few advances or kind of investments made by some systems toward the point you just made, which is how do we change a little bit of how we approach care or the modality of care for some of those more remote communities? There's been some work done, some research that says patients that are served

I think there's been a few advances or kind of investments made by some systems toward the point you just made, which is how do we change a little bit of how we approach care or the modality of care for some of those more remote communities? There's been some work done, some research that says patients that are served

in their own communities surrounded by their families and support systems tend to have better outcomes. So you've got a few people, a few systems that are investing in hybrid remote visit or hybrid telecare type of models.

in their own communities surrounded by their families and support systems tend to have better outcomes. So you've got a few people, a few systems that are investing in hybrid remote visit or hybrid telecare type of models.

And so the idea is – and there's one example that I can think of from Providence, for example, which is out of Seattle, but they serve a lot of rural Washington and surrounding states – where they're using a hybrid of telehealth to bring specialty care to the point of care to enable a responding doctor to deal with something.

And so the idea is – and there's one example that I can think of from Providence, for example, which is out of Seattle, but they serve a lot of rural Washington and surrounding states – where they're using a hybrid of telehealth to bring specialty care to the point of care to enable a responding doctor to deal with something.

The idea being if something goes wrong, the last thing we want to do is put you on an ambulance or a helicopter and move you to the big building. We want to do a better job of enabling people at point of care so that the responding physician has the support of that specialist that doesn't live there, but it is remote and it's kind of a three-legged approach to the patient.

The idea being if something goes wrong, the last thing we want to do is put you on an ambulance or a helicopter and move you to the big building. We want to do a better job of enabling people at point of care so that the responding physician has the support of that specialist that doesn't live there, but it is remote and it's kind of a three-legged approach to the patient.

One of the challenges we've seen, and it's inhibiting a little bit of the investment in it, is we've had inconsistent funding, too, from a policy perspective. So the CMS engines just extended a little bit their coverage for telehealth. That's not locked in. I mean, obviously that needs to become a more permanent part of the budget.

One of the challenges we've seen, and it's inhibiting a little bit of the investment in it, is we've had inconsistent funding, too, from a policy perspective. So the CMS engines just extended a little bit their coverage for telehealth. That's not locked in. I mean, obviously that needs to become a more permanent part of the budget.

And so there are some systems kind of waiting, keeping their powder dry, so to speak, around how far they want to go into this until there's some guarantee of reimbursement on the back end. But certainly the people who are leaning in have shown some pretty good results.

And so there are some systems kind of waiting, keeping their powder dry, so to speak, around how far they want to go into this until there's some guarantee of reimbursement on the back end. But certainly the people who are leaning in have shown some pretty good results.