The American Telemedicine Association has elected Dr. Joseph C. Kvedar to be its next president. He'll start a year-long term in April 2020.

WHY IT MATTERS
Kvedar, vice president of connected health at Partners HealthCare and a professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School, has served as ATA president before – from 2004-2005 – and also served on its board for several years.

He'll help lead the group as telehealth is gaining ground among U.S. providers – and as the technologies, policies and strategies around deployment of virtual care are also changing rapidly.

"As our industry continues to evolve, creating new opportunities and challenges, I can think of no one better to help us navigate these changes and lead ATA into the future than Dr. Kvedar," said American Telemedicine Association CEO Ann Mond Johnson. "He brings a unique combination of history and a forward-thinking approach to ATA."

THE LARGER TREND
Kvedar has long been a leader in the innovation and development of personal and connected technologies, and new exploration of how they can be put to work advancing digital health.

In a series of blog posts for Healthcare IT News several years ago, he discussed his early hopes for Apple's first forays into health, assessed the prospects of "automated care" and proposed his concept of the "innovator's dilemma" in healthcare: the fact "that as we look to innovate in healthcare, the very authority figures we must turn to for fact-checking our innovative ideas are conflicted and highly motivated to support the status quo. I’m talking about physicians of course."

That's begun to change in the years since, of course, however, as more and more clinicians have become convinced of technology's ability to improve care and outcomes – largely because of efforts like Kvedar's many initiatives exploring connected health.

His work at Partners HealthCare, ATA and other organizations has helped broaden the way information technology and mobile devices can help manage chronic conditions, increase medication adherence, boost patient engagement and improve clinical outcomes.

"He is a pragmatic and dogged visionary, and we are proud to have him lend his voice to ATA in support of widespread telehealth adoption," said Dr. Gregg Meyer, chief clinical officer at Partners HealthCare.

ON THE RECORD
"I welcome the opportunity to beat the drum on telehealth adoption and look forward to working with the ATA board and our members, partners and other industry leaders, to create the right market conditions, increase awareness and support necessary policy and reimbursement guidelines to accelerate telehealth adoption over the next three to five years," said Kvedar in a statement.

"ATA has a renewed approach and a clear vision, to integrate virtual care into emerging value-based delivery models, focusing on the whole patient and collaboration between care settings," he added. "Telehealth offerings perfectly align with these new models, extending capacity and access to personalized, quality care, where and when the patient needs it."

Twitter: @MikeMiliardHITN
Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com

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