American Telemedicine Association  Establishes New Clinician Council, to Address Barriers to the Broad Adoption of Telehealth and Virtual Care Delivery

The American Telemedicine Association (ATA) announced it has convened a new Clinician Council, to address barriers to the broad adoption of telehealth and virtual care delivery, including emerging platforms that support technology-enabled healthcare. This includes creating a Trust Agenda that focuses on responsibility, credibility, and integrity within the healthcare industry.

“We are thrilled to convene such a distinguished group of clinicians, representing a range of healthcare specialty areas and disciplines,” said Ann Mond Johnson, CEO of the ATA. “The ATA believes we have an important opportunity – and an obligation – to better inform the public, patients, consumers and clinicians, payers, policymakers and other stakeholders about the benefits of telehealth, and support a national dialogue around virtual care based on factual, rational and balanced information, to enable a productive and sensible discourse on the future of telehealth and omnichannel care delivery.”

The Clinician Council will be chaired by Joe Kvedar, MD, Immediate Past Chair of the ATA and its Senior Clinical Advisor. Lois Ritter, EdD, MS, MA, MS-HCA, the ATA’s Research Director, will support all research, initiatives and administration of the Council. The Council is composed of clinicians, including physicians, nurses, advanced nurse practitioners, physical therapists, and psychologists, serving a two-year term:

• Gokhan Anil, MD, Mayo Clinic
• Melynda Barnes, MD, Ro
• Sameer Berry, MD, MBA, Oshi Health
• Ethan Booker, MD, MedStar Health
• Patrick Carroll, MD, HIMS, Inc.
• Ian Choe, MD, Optum
• Bonnie Clipper, DNP, MA, MBA, RN, Innovation Advantage
• Melinda Cooling, APRN, OSF HealthCare
• Abigail Crawford, APRN, FNP-C, WVU Medicine
• Carrie Culpepper, RN, FNP-C, MBA, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Managed Care
• Carlos Estrada, MD, MBA, Boston Children’s Hospital
• Charles Fisher, PT, MPT, MBA, Hospital for Special Surgery
• Debora Fisher, RN-BSN, MPH/A, MobileHelp/Clear Arch Health
• Leanna Fortunato, PhD, American Psychological Association
• Gail Golab, DVM, PhD, American Veterinary Medical Association
• Linda Goodwin, MSN, RN, CommonSpirit
• Shawn Griffin, MD, URAC
• Derrick Haslem, MD, Intermountain Health
• Helen Hughes, MD, MPH, Johns Hopkins Medicine
• Anney Joseph, OD, FAAO, Department of Veterans Affairs
• Florence Kariuki, RN, BSN, Health Recovery Solutions
• John Kazianis, MD, Hicuity Health
• Malik Khan, MD, FCCP, Corewell Health
• Jade Le, MD, Access Telecare
• Shannon MacDonald, MD, Mass General Brigham
• Ateev Mehrotra, MD, MPH, Harvard Medical School
• David Newman, MD, Sanford Health
• Ngoc-Anh Nguyen, MD, Houston Methodist
• Jordan Pritzker, MD, MBA, Aetna
• Adonis Saremi, MD, Noom, Inc.
• Helen Schnase, MD, MBA, Transcarent
• Kate Steinle, MSN, FolxHealth
• Kellie Swink BSN, RN, Children’s National Medical Center
• Greg Weidner, MD, FACP, One Medical/Amazon
• Eric Weil, MD, MDLive by Evernorth
• Huiling Zhang, MD, MPH, MBA, Philips

“The work of the Clinician Council will focus on building a climate of trust within the healthcare community and society at large, and advise on topics such as healthcare ethics, patient and provider experiences with virtual care, and standards, guidelines and practices the ATA expects members to follow,” added Kvedar. “We look forward to the Council’s collective thought leadership, unique perspectives and vision that will help inform a roadmap for the future of telehealth and virtual care.”

The first meeting of the Clinician Council will take place during the ATA’s EDGE Policy Conference, December 13-15 in Washington, DC.

General Registration: Register here for the EDGE Policy Conference.

About the ATA

As the only organization completely focused on advancing telehealth, the American Telemedicine Association is committed to ensuring that everyone has access to safe, affordable, and appropriate care when and where they need it, enabling the system to do more good for more people. The ATA represents a broad and inclusive member network of leading healthcare delivery systems, academic institutions, technology solution providers and payers, as well as partner organizations and alliances, working to advance industry adoption of telehealth, promote responsible policy, advocate for government and market normalization, and provide education and resources to help integrate virtual care into emerging value-based delivery models.

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