If there’s a readily visible upside to the COVID-19 pandemic, it may be that telehealth is not only much more accessible, it’s also supremely topical among policymakers. However, privacy concerns are still a significant source of drag in some respects, a consideration that extends to digital medicine as well in the context of contact tracing used to corral the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Virtual care provider Doctor On Demand has scooped up $75 million in a series D round led by General Atlantic, with participation from existing investors. The funds are earmarked to fuel the company’s growth and expand access to comprehensive telehealth services across the U.S. Combined with earlier financings, the San Francisco-based company has raised nearly $240 million to date.

Conventional wisdom has it that recent expansions in coverage of telehealth will never be fully reversed. The addition of artificial intelligence (AI) into telehealth could solve several issues faced by doctors and hospitals. There is some concern, however, that the blending of AI and telehealth will industrialize the practice of medicine, dissuading patients from seeking critically needed care.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee met again June 23 to discuss the federal government response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and one clear signal that emerged from the hearing is that Congress will have to provide annual funding to build a sustainable infrastructure for vaccine development and manufacture if the nation is to deal appropriately with the next pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has fueled an unprecedented uptick in telehealth use, from medical and behavioral health services to remote patient monitoring, as federal and state regulators have relaxed certain policy restrictions to increase access to care. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) recommended in a Senate hearing that certain temporary policy changes, such as elimination of the “originating site” rule and expansion of Medicare- and Medicaid-covered telehealth services, should be lasting to ensure patients retain health care access when the crisis is over.

KARACHI, Pakistan – Beyond stepping up manufacturing of the medical devices it needs to fight COVID-19, Pakistan is using technology platforms to reach out to a large diaspora for help. The country is taking steps to leverage limited resources through a more comprehensive system of telehealth applications that allow for faster self-diagnosis and make it possible to tap into the expertise of Pakistani doctors.

Dermtech Inc., of La Jolla, Calif., has had a busy couple of weeks, revealing late last month that its noninvasive melanoma detection test is available for use via telemedicine. Now, the company has unveiled first-quarter results that saw assay revenue of $0.8 million, a 238% increase from the first quarter of 2019.

If nothing else, the unfolding coronavirus has advanced the implementation of a wide variety of digital health tools. Panelists at the World Medical Innovation Forum on May 11 explored several current use cases.

BOGOTA, Colombia – As it works to more efficiently fight COVID-19, Chile is developing new regulations to support and boost telemedicine with an eye on the current outbreak but also on improving the provision of health care in the country in the long term. Patients with chronic conditions, who are at a greater risk from COVID-19, are being prioritized as the focus for telemedicine progresses.

The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) said that they will offer enforcement discretion for their respective final rules for electronic health records (EHRs), a nod to the COVID-19 pandemic.