The American Telemedicine Association (ATA) is an organization dedicated fully to advancing telehealth in the United States. The organization’s membership includes healthcare delivery systems, technology systems providers, academic institutions, and partner organizations. All these work together to increase the adoption of telehealth through targeted education and awareness initiatives as well as government advocacy.
In December 2024, ATA launched the Center of Digital Excellence (CODE), an innovative initiative geared toward advancing quality virtual care. The new program put ATA at the forefront of developing and implementing best practices in virtual care, prioritizing patient care and health equity.
CODE is a common platform that brings together top healthcare organizations and industry leaders to collaborate, innovate, and share informational resources on telehealth. Through it, healthcare organizations can share best practices and success stories on implementing virtual care, give program tours, host onsite workshops, and even share toolkits with others. They get to benchmark and learn from one another on the best approaches for implementing telehealth, shortening the learning curve that usually comes with new technology systems.
CODE not only enables collaboration but also supports the crystallization of the insights generated by members into a set of standards for digital care delivery. It does this through the Provider Telehealth Engagement Model (PTEM), which is a framework for establishing benchmarking standards for virtual care.
PTEM offers standardized metrics by which healthcare organizations can measure and compare the efficacy of their virtual care programs. It also provides roadmaps and workflow models that healthcare organizations can use to scale their virtual care services effectively. PTEM aligns virtual care implementation efforts by different healthcare organizations, ensuring high-quality patient care across different digital systems.
Speaking after the launch of CODE, ATA CEO Ann Mond Johnson confirmed ATA’s intention of having leading healthcare systems establish standard models for integrating virtual care into the broader healthcare ecosystem. She affirmed that telehealth was no longer a periphery service but rather a crucial part of in-person care, closing gaps where traditional care is inaccessible. Hence, together with the founding healthcare systems of CODE, ATA was setting the standard for enhancing, extending, and equalizing care.
CODE’s founding healthcare systems include MedStar Health, Mayo Clinic, Ochsner Health, Sanford Health, and Stanford Health Care. Others include Intermountain Health, OSF HealthCare, West Virginia University Medicine Children’s Hospital, and UPMC. These are the organizations that will commence sharing strategies and insights on digital care delivery on CODE. ATA will welcome other organizations into CODE on a case-by-case basis. Admission requirements are set by the founding organizations. CODE’s solution providers include AvaSure and Access TeleCare.
Healthcare organizations interested in becoming part of CODE can apply at https://info.americantelemed.org/center-of-digital-excellence. ATA’s team will review each application and decide on admission. Once admitted, an organization will enjoy access to case studies on virtual care, workshops, industry reports highlighting leading programs, and even exclusive tours of these leading programs. Other benefits of joining CODE include virtual care policy recommendations, access to helpful frameworks and toolkits, and recognition opportunities for standout digital care delivery systems.
To steer CODE toward its mission of delivering actionable outputs that set standards in digital care, ATA appointed Elissa Baker, BSN, as senior vice president, digital strategy and clinical innovation. Her office will work with CODE members to position it as a catalyst for remodeling the digital care terrain.
As CODE grows, ATA will broaden its reach by hosting events and summits to democratize knowledge sharing and give guidance on telehealth to the larger healthcare industry. It will also publish CODE insights on ATA’s Member Connection, making them accessible to all ATA members.
In December 2024, ATA launched the Center of Digital Excellence (CODE), an innovative initiative geared toward advancing quality virtual care. The new program put ATA at the forefront of developing and implementing best practices in virtual care, prioritizing patient care and health equity.
CODE is a common platform that brings together top healthcare organizations and industry leaders to collaborate, innovate, and share informational resources on telehealth. Through it, healthcare organizations can share best practices and success stories on implementing virtual care, give program tours, host onsite workshops, and even share toolkits with others. They get to benchmark and learn from one another on the best approaches for implementing telehealth, shortening the learning curve that usually comes with new technology systems.
CODE not only enables collaboration but also supports the crystallization of the insights generated by members into a set of standards for digital care delivery. It does this through the Provider Telehealth Engagement Model (PTEM), which is a framework for establishing benchmarking standards for virtual care.
PTEM offers standardized metrics by which healthcare organizations can measure and compare the efficacy of their virtual care programs. It also provides roadmaps and workflow models that healthcare organizations can use to scale their virtual care services effectively. PTEM aligns virtual care implementation efforts by different healthcare organizations, ensuring high-quality patient care across different digital systems.
Speaking after the launch of CODE, ATA CEO Ann Mond Johnson confirmed ATA’s intention of having leading healthcare systems establish standard models for integrating virtual care into the broader healthcare ecosystem. She affirmed that telehealth was no longer a periphery service but rather a crucial part of in-person care, closing gaps where traditional care is inaccessible. Hence, together with the founding healthcare systems of CODE, ATA was setting the standard for enhancing, extending, and equalizing care.
CODE’s founding healthcare systems include MedStar Health, Mayo Clinic, Ochsner Health, Sanford Health, and Stanford Health Care. Others include Intermountain Health, OSF HealthCare, West Virginia University Medicine Children’s Hospital, and UPMC. These are the organizations that will commence sharing strategies and insights on digital care delivery on CODE. ATA will welcome other organizations into CODE on a case-by-case basis. Admission requirements are set by the founding organizations. CODE’s solution providers include AvaSure and Access TeleCare.
Healthcare organizations interested in becoming part of CODE can apply at https://info.americantelemed.org/center-of-digital-excellence. ATA’s team will review each application and decide on admission. Once admitted, an organization will enjoy access to case studies on virtual care, workshops, industry reports highlighting leading programs, and even exclusive tours of these leading programs. Other benefits of joining CODE include virtual care policy recommendations, access to helpful frameworks and toolkits, and recognition opportunities for standout digital care delivery systems.
To steer CODE toward its mission of delivering actionable outputs that set standards in digital care, ATA appointed Elissa Baker, BSN, as senior vice president, digital strategy and clinical innovation. Her office will work with CODE members to position it as a catalyst for remodeling the digital care terrain.
As CODE grows, ATA will broaden its reach by hosting events and summits to democratize knowledge sharing and give guidance on telehealth to the larger healthcare industry. It will also publish CODE insights on ATA’s Member Connection, making them accessible to all ATA members.
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