USA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Nadia de la Houssaye, Allison Bell, Emily Degan Vorhoff and Keiana Palmer, Jones Walker LLP
Digital Healthcare in the United States: Navigating a Changing Regulatory and Funding Landscape Five years after the COVID-19 pandemic first captured headlines, affected billions of lives, led to a global prevention effort, and, in the United States in particular, led to a rapid expansion of telemedicine as a primary method for care deliv- ery, the digital healthcare landscape has come to reflect the broader state of the nation: unsettled. Until recently, the lessons of COVID-19 were most clearly evident in the approach of US fed- eral and state officials towards the emergence of other infectious diseases (such as mpox) and in the accelerated adoption of digital health solu- tions. Disease tracking and prevention strategies were – and in many cases still are – being devel- oped and implemented at a rapid pace. Among other beneficiaries, rural and under-served pop- ulations have been positively affected as a result of the loosening of federal and state restrictions on telehealth, physician licensure and other rules that often served as barriers to the delivery of modern healthcare. While many of these changes persist and oth- ers are moving forward, rapid shifts in executive- branch funding and compliance priorities at the federal level have created a more complex and unpredictable environment. Budget and staff- ing cuts, both proposed and implemented, are beginning to impact the resources available to research, develop and deploy digital healthcare initiatives. Virtually every organisation – from government agencies to academic medical centres, research-focused universities, private enterprises, investors, front-line hospitals, health systems and individual practitioners – is now fac- ing the challenge of making long-term decisions in the face of significant short-term uncertainty.
In the current economic and political climate, every stakeholder is being required to recalcu- late the resources, money and attention avail- able to pursue their unique missions. With regard to digital health and telemedicine, it appears that many of the lessons learned during the pan- demic will endure. However, the clock is tick- ing on some advancements, and, in the case of many temporary pandemic-era waivers, their expiry dates have been extended only through 30 September 2025. Despite this uncertainty, digital health solutions continue to play a major role in providing cost- effective, high-quality healthcare to Americans across the country and from all backgrounds. In this respect, at least, the trend in the United States remains consistent with the broader glob- al commitment to digital health. For example, the World Health Organization’s Global Initia- tive on Digital Health (GIDH), formally launched in February 2024, continues to work towards country-led digital health transformation through strengthened collaboration and knowledge exchange. In its March 2025 Global Digital Health Monitor: State of Digital Health 2024 Brief , the organisation noted that of 47 non-US countries that completed survey submissions: • 46% of participating countries are in Phase 3 of digital health maturity; • 23% are in Phase 4; and • two – Portugal and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – have reached Phase 5. In the United States, federal and state lawmakers and agency officials are continuing their efforts to balance innovation with regulation in the digi- tal health space. However, given the recent shifts in the administration’s enforcement and funding priorities – which have yet to play out fully – this
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