ECG interviewed 20-plus stakeholders across the CHS enterprise, representing operations and service lines, IT, payer strategy, finance, business development, and marketing, as well as patient advocates and physicians. Through these conversations, ECG surfaced leadership perspectives on the strategic imperatives for establishing a telehealth offering and the factors unique to the Western New York market that could be addressed through a telehealth program. ECG then led CHS through a strategic visioning process focused on understanding best practices and “futurist” telehealth concepts. Additional work streams included the following:

• Conducting a capacity analysis to determine optimal FTE counts to provide 24×7 coverage
• Identifying opportunities to reduce cost of care and improve quality through alternative payment models/risk-sharing models with payers
• Developing a clinical integration strategy to offer telehealth visits through independent provider practices and urgent care groups

Following this visioning process, ECG worked with key leaders to develop a comprehensive business plan that articulated the following for CHS:

• Telehealth strategic imperatives
• Guiding principles
• Prioritized use case roadmap
• Program governance
• Financial projections
• Implementation project plan