Telehealth exploded in New Hampshire during the pandemic, and now it’s here to stay

A few years ago, officials at Cheshire Medical Center in Keene began to examine how much time it took for patients to be seen for a routine care visit.

They started tracking from the time a patient left home, factoring in the drive to the office, the hunt for parking, waiting in the check-in line and waiting room, until they were finally seen by a physician.

The results confirmed what doctors suspected. Patients were spending an average of two hours to get to their 30-minute medical consultation.

Cheshire Medical wasn’t the only establishment examining accessibility to medical care in New Hampshire. Long before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic,

New Hampshire was already considering telehealth.

Two and a half years later, telehealth has become an integral part of medical care for many New Hampshire residents. The service has been particularly useful for rural residents, as well as those who need to travel for care or just lead busy lives. New legislation passed in August expanded eligible services and added to the list of medical professionals permitted to provide online care, making it clear that telehealth is here to stay.

In August, the state Legislature expanded the definition of telehealth to include texting or emailing a therapist in order to make it more accessible to rural residents and those with poor internet service. The law requires any state-regulated insurance carrier to cover these expanded services to meet standards for treatment.

In addition to doctors, the new law includes nurses, midwives, psychologists, dentists, community mental health providers, addiction treatment professionals, dietitians and others certified by the National Behavior Analyst Certification Board. If they cover in-person treatment, they have to allow telehealth as well.

— MELISSA RUSSELL CONTRIBUTING WRITER, FOR THE KEENE SENTINEL. THE FULL STORY IS PART OF THE SENTINEL’S HEALTH REPORTING LAB