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Executive Summary

Telehealth-supported emergency medical services (EMS) represents an evidence- based approach to enhancing prehospital care delivery, expanding access to physician expertise, and improving resource utilization. The evidence base demonstrates clear benefits in appropriate contexts: for time-sensitive emergencies, telehealth enables significant reductions in treatment times; for low-acuity conditions, programs report transport reductions of 50–67% while maintaining high safety profiles.

Successful implementation requires appropriate patient selection, robust technical infrastructure, comprehensive training, and systematic quality assurance. Programs demonstrate success when targeting patients with stable vital signs and absence of conditions requiring immediate physical intervention. Implementation barriers commonly include regulatory and reimbursement limitations, clinician acceptance concerns, and technical infrastructure challenges.

Telehealth holds particular promise for rural and underserved areas, enabling centralized physician expertise to support distributed units and mitigating workforce shortages. A measured approach beginning with limited scope and expanding based on demonstrated success achieves better outcomes than comprehensive implementation from the outset.

Publication Date

4-1-2026

Policy Brief for Evidence-Based Telehealth Use in EMS: A Comprehensive Reference for Program Administrators, Field Leaders, and Clinical Directors

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