Enhancing the value of virtual care through strategic partnerships

Recent analysis by the National Health Institute indicates that telehealth now accounts for 23% of all health care encounters nationwide, with some clinical specialties reporting virtual visit rates now exceeding 50%. To help ensure quality care in this rapidly expanding field, the American Heart Association Center for Telehealth and the National Institutes of Health-funded University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Center for Virtual Care Value and Excellence (UNC-Chapel Hill ViVE), are building and disseminating virtual care resources together through a new agreement. This agreement outlines a commitment to fostering collaborative research initiatives and developing frameworks that enhance the excellence and value of virtual care.

The American Heart Association, the world's leading nonprofit organization focused on changing the future of health for all, and UNC-Chapel Hill ViVE, share common priorities and interests in advancing telehealth programs through evidence-based research and education.

This collaboration represents a significant step forward in advancing telehealth innovation and impact. As a team, we will generate new real-world knowledge to overcome existing barriers, develop frameworks to advance the implementation and evaluation of telehealth, and examine the integration of emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, to improve the quality and outcomes of care. Virtual care quickly became a necessity during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has since evolved into a sophisticated, integrated care delivery system. Each of our organizations has unique strengths and expertise that enables us to collectively tackle current telehealth challenges and produce new evidence and resources that will advance telehealth innovation and policy."

Saif Khairat, Ph.D., M.P.H., professor of digital health and AI, director of Center for ViVE at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The Association's Center for Telehealth, established in 2023, leverages research, policy, professional education, professional certification and quality improvement programs to help advance the integration of telehealth into care.

"The American Heart Association Center for Telehealth is dedicated to keeping people at the center of care," said Lee Schwamm, M.D., FAHA, volunteer member of the American Heart Association Center for Telehealth Expert Panel; senior vice president and chief digital health officer of Yale New Haven Health; and associate dean of digital strategy and transformation at Yale School of Medicine. "We are thrilled to collaborate with UNC-Chapel Hill ViVE, combining our mutual expertise to expand the reach of the American Heart Association's research and educational content. This collaboration will allow us to enhance the telehealth education and training for the current as well as the future healthcare workforce, and translate evidence into practice for connected care through innovative educational methods."

UNC-Chapel Hill ViVE is funded by the National Center for Advancing Clinical and Translational Science (NCATS), a department of the National Institutes of Health, and is committed to building a robust coalition of national resources, fostering collaborative research initiatives, and developing implementation and evaluation frameworks that enhance the value of virtual care.

"Our ultimate goal is to advance translational research-bridging the gap between lab discoveries and real-world impact for patients and health care providers in urban and rural settings," Khairat said.

Through this joint effort, the organizations are working together to:

• Advance the integration of telehealth into patient care through evidence-based research,
• Create evidence-based resources and guides to support development of integrated telehealth care models,
• Improve professionals' knowledge through development of educational resources, and
• Expand dissemination of science through networking and education.