Tenets for Increasing Access to Nutrition Care Delivered Via Telehealth: Recommendations from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Telehealth Task Force.

Abstract

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics' Telehealth Task Force was charged with developing a telehealth policy stance to guide the work of the Academy. The task force comprised representatives from diverse areas of telehealth practice, including research, practice, payment, and licensure. They convened in 2020-2021 to conduct an environmental scan and develop a recommended stance on telehealth policy. The tenets of the resulting telehealth stance are (1) Nutrition care services are critical to comprehensive health care delivery systems and should be covered when provided via telehealth under the same coverage and payment policies as in-person care; (2) Patients should have coverage for telehealth delivered via audio only if they cannot effectively access or use audio-visual technologies; (3) In declared emergency situations when access to qualified providers is otherwise severely impacted, the modification of certain consumer protection policies, such as licensure and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act requirements, may be appropriate; (4) Public funding and support for broadband internet, technology, digital literacy education, and language services are necessary to address racial, economic, and geographic health disparities and to address disabilities; and (5) Publicly funded research on telehealth should be nationally representative and include a wide variety of services and providers, including nutrition care services provided by registered dietitian nutritionists and nutrition and dietetic technicians, registered. The telehealth policy stance was formally adopted by the Academy in April 2021.