Change is constant and innovation is a creative response to change. COVID-19 has changed health care delivery itself.

Making any new technology work takes more than mastery of that technology in its developmental environment. Telehealth was available for almost 20 years, yet most hospitals did not use it because physicians and patients preferred personal interaction.

In addition, reimbursements for a telehealth patient interaction have been a fraction of a traditional physician-patient visit. Also, a majority of consumers were unfamiliar with the technology or did not believe the telehealth format would meet their needs.

COVID-19 changed this immediately.

Hospital providers implemented telehealth to protect care team members while interviewing a consumer who presented with symptoms of COIVID-19 since testing for the virus then took 7 to 10 days,

CMS modified its reimbursement rate for telehealth visits to effect parity with in-person physician visits.

Hospitals also set-up telehealth video visits for family members with loved ones who were hospitalized and physicians began using telehealth for routine patient visits.

Consumers who previously dismissed the value of a telehealth visit quickly embraced the technology and now are advocates. Digital health is here to stay.

Getting immediate buy-in to immediate wide-scale change is problematic. The need to ramp-up preparation for the contagion surge triggered a collective effort by senior leadership, physicians, different specialty care teams, and support staff.

COVID-19 did not overwhelm the health care system as feared and will not do so if there is a resurgence of the virus. Lessons learned are not forgotten.

Data analysis and mining will facilitate the development of new AI for diagnosis and treatment that will serve as a reliable adjunct tool.

Above all, the experiential knowledge gained from planning and executing individual hospital or system responses to the pandemic will produce lasting benefit to the American people.