American Telemedicine Association announces new Clinician Council

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Physicians will help a national group guide American health care policy for virtual care.

The American Telemedicine Association (ATA) announced a new Clinician Council “to address barriers to the broad adoption of telehealth and virtual care delivery, including emerging platforms that support technology-enabled health care.” The group will work on a “trust agenda” centered on responsibility, credibility and integrity in using telehealth resources.

“We are thrilled to convene such a distinguished group of clinicians, representing a range of healthcare specialty areas and disciplines,” CEO Ann Mond Johnson, said in a news release. “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.”

Council members will serve two-year terms. The inaugural chair will be Joe Kvedar, MD, senior clinical adviser to ATA and the association’s immediate past chair.

“The work of the Clinician Council will focus on building a climate of trust within the health care community and society at large, and advise on topics such as health care ethics, patient and provider experiences with virtual care, and standards, guidelines and practices the ATA expects members to follow,” Kvedar said in the news release. “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.”

ATA Research Director Lois Ritter, EdD, MS, MA, MS-HCA, will serve as support staff for research, initiatives and administration. Additional members include doctors, nurses, advanced nurse practitioners, physical therapists, and psychologists. The additional members are:

• 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