1. Ensure that patient-centered platforms are actually centered around the patient.

Many vendors and innovators are doing well by patients in this area, but many are also inadvertently compounding issues around access and quality, rather than addressing the problems of our system with solutions. The rampant misinformation around this pandemic has reinforced how critical it is to have clinically driven and integrated solutions in the marketplace.

The most successful digital health companies of the future will truly put the patient at the center of everything they do along with clinical rigor. Not only should every digital health company have a Chief Medical Officer and/or a Chief Epidemiologist, but maybe every company should have a Chief Medical Officer (or a partner to provide this clinical expertise).

2. Digital health is not just here to stay, but it is rapidly evolving.

We will never enter a hospital system the way we did before, literally and figuratively. Prior to COVID-19, telehealth and home care were niche areas of medicine that had not yet reached their full potential. Now, telehealth will undoubtedly be the initial point-of-care for many non-emergent issues, and when appropriate, emergency scenarios as well. It will also become so much more than a convenient medium to receive asynchronous care for urgent issues.

We will likely reach a point where many will access most of their primary and specialty care through a telehealth consultation, supported by in-person care only when needed. In the not too distant future, a patient may also have the ability to go straight home after a hospitalization instead of a skilled nursing facility because all of their needs will be handled with a combination of tele-care and a home nurse. Perhaps we will also reach a point where accessing excessive care in the emergency room will be a thing of the past because the emergency room staff will "go" to the patient. How we provide inpatient care and how we handle transitions from hospitalizations will be completely rethought.

While there are still many challenges to overcome when it comes to digital health and telehealth (ex. legislative restrictions, provider reimbursement, insurance carrier coverage, etc.), patient demand and the rampant adoption, necessitated by our current social distancing measures, will ensure that many of these barriers continue to break down. Digital health will be a standard way we consume health care in the U.S., much like digital banking is now simply considered the standard for banking.

3. Employers can play a strategic role to prepare for the wave of "return to care."

In some communities where hospital systems still have the capacity for elective procedures, many are pushing ads promoting "we're safe;" they are essentially trying to increase the demand for their systems. Elective surgeries were put on hold across the nation as communities experienced their first wave of the pandemic. These surgeries were not procedures that will never be realized; they are slipped disks, knee replacements, nerve issues and more that will require surgical interventions. We must be cautious and ready to "return to care" in the most effective way, avoiding the overutilization that was rampant during our "old normal."

We may also see a further widening in the health care disparity gaps that have long existed in our country. Previously furloughed employees or the newly employed will likely experience financial challenges around obtaining quality health care. All of us who work in and touch the health care industry have to do whatever we can to reduce these gaps and prevent future gaps from emerging. Employers, who are responsible for over half of America's insured population, can play a unique role and prepare now for both of these forthcoming challenges. Engage the CHRO (and Chief Medical Officer) to create strategies that lean into your navigation benefits and any other clinical resources in your toolbox.

With the recent rise in numbers across many states this is far from over when it comes to addressing the challenges of the novel coronavirus, but we do stand at an important crossroads. Let's ensure that we are all laying the foundation to work together to change health care for the better and never return to yesterday's "normal."

Mike Matteo is president of Grand Rounds.

Read more: 

• Health care may look very different in 2030 — or not at all
• 3 COVID-related variables that will impact health plans
• If ever there was a time to rethink employer-sponsored health plans, this is it