Speaking to health care leaders, providers, and medical students at Jump Trading Simulation & Education Center in Peoria, Illinois, Kyle Zebley, senior vice president of public policy for the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) and executive director of ATA Action, said the lapse wasn’t caused by technology or lack of provider readiness but by government dysfunction.

“On October 1st, patients across the country woke up to discover they had lost access to their doctors overnight,” Zebley said. “Not because of a technological failure or malpractice, but because of politics. That morning of October 1^st, Medicare telehealth flexibilities, the lifeline that millions of Americans had come to rely on, simply expired.”

The lapse affected Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries and hospitals, including OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, participating in the federal Acute Hospital Care at Home program, after Congress failed to extend pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities. Although most private and Medicaid plans continued covering virtual visits, the sudden loss of federal authorization created confusion for providers and patients alike.

During the OSF OnCall Digital Health Symposium keynote speech, Zebley called the situation “a product of dysfunction, delay, and short-term thinking,” despite years of bipartisan support for telehealth across both the Trump and Biden administrations.

He stressed telehealth became collateral damage in a larger breakdown of governance.

On the 41st day of a record-long government shutdown, the U.S. Senate voted 60 to 40 to approve a continuing resolution to reopen the government. The measure would fund much of the government through January 30 and provide funding for some agencies through the end of next September. It also includes an extension of a waiver that allows for telehealth services for Medicare recipients.

Need a permanent fix

Zebley has been urging lawmakers to transform temporary extensions into permanent, digital-native health policy that provides stability for hospitals, clinicians, and patients. He argued that bipartisan goodwill alone is not enough. But Zebley is not convinced the rollercoaster ride is over.

“In the short term, it’s going to continue to threaten at least to be the rollercoaster that it has been in 2025. We have two political parties at total loggerheads – putting aside their agreement on the efficacy of telehealth and virtual care services – they disagree about almost everything it would seem.”

Zebley pointed out OSF HealthCare has been a leader in using digital technology and virtual care to transform health care.

“OSF has continued, through OnCall (its digital health arm), to really push the boundaries of their workforce and push the boundaries of increasing their capacity to do more good for more patients wherever those patients might be. He added, “They really are the gold standard in the use and deployment of technology.”

However, he argued health systems such as OSF can’t build business models around continuing resolutions. Clinicians can’t plan care around congressional calendars. Patients shouldn’t have to wonder whether their next therapy session or prescription refill depends on the latest vote count in Washington.

The future of telehealth

His vision for the future – a “digital-native, AI-enabled” health care system, where policy keeps pace with innovation and where care is continuous, data-driven, and equitable. The telehealth leader emphasized technology has advanced rapidly – from remote monitoring and hospital-at-home programs to AI-assisted diagnostics, but policy and regulation have lagged behind. Zebley stressed a permanent fix is needed.

“So that our fellow citizens, yourselves included, can lead healthier, better lives with more individualized care treatment that really is able to take advantage of the massive reams of data that our health care system can and does produce and come up with bespoke health care plans for them that meets them where they are.”

The lack of a permanent policy, he argued, doesn’t just slow innovation, it denies care.

The ATA and ATA Action are coordinating national coalitions to push for long-term reform, including the ATA Action Advocacy Council, the Virtual Foodcare Coalition, and the Advancing Digital Health Coalition, all aimed at ensuring that digital health access remains stable and bipartisan.

The ATA, through its Center of Digital Excellence is also continuing to collect data to provide additional evidence that telehealth is safe and that it is expanding access to care despite a shrinking workforce.

Regardless of the current lapse, Zebley is optimistic Congress will eventually make telehealth coverage permanent because he says it is one of the rare success stories of American health policy. He reminded those in the room in Peoria that data has already shown that telehealth is not only popular, but it is efficient, cost-effective and patient-centered.

Kyle Zebley

B-roll-OSF OnCall Digital Health Symposium

The American Telemedicine Association (ATA), is recognizing two leaders of OSF HealthCare for their remarkable contributions to advancing telehealth and virtual care. The ATA is a broad and inclusive member network working to advance industry adoption of telehealth, promote responsible policy, advocate for government and market normalization and provide education and resources to help integrate digital care into emerging value-based delivery models of care.

Brandi Clark, vice president, Digital Care, OSF OnCall, received the ATA Leadership in Care Transformation Award during a ceremony at the ATA NEXUS 2025 gathering in New Orleans on the opening day of the organization’s annual conference.

“Under Brandi’s leadership, OSF OnCall Digital Care has successfully rolled out eight new programs across virtual ambulatory and acute care, reflecting her ability to transform ambitious goals into measurable success,” said Jennifer Junis, RN, MSN, president, OSF OnCall. Junis nominated Clark for her many standout achievements including her leadership in establishing the OSF OnCall Digital Hospital, a pioneering model that provides acute care directly within patients' homes. Through the Digital Hospital's clinical command center, she launched a 24/7 Virtual Hospitalist program, significantly reducing the need for locum coverage in rural hospitals and enhancing quality outcomes.

Additionally, Clark’s strategic vision also led to the implementation of virtual nursing at two hospitals within the Ministry – an effort which has positively impacted patient care. By centralizing tasks such as admissions and discharges for medical-surgical beds, virtual nursing has reduced discharge times while contributing to higher satisfaction levels among both nursing staff and patients.

Melinda Cooling received the ATA Telehealth Champions: Advancing Access to Virtual Care Award for her achievements as chief clinician executive for OSF OnCall. Cooling recently accepted a new position as chief nurse and advanced practice provider executive for OSF HealthCare.

Junis nominated Cooling for her approach to redesigning health care options to improve access. “As OSF OnCall introduced new programs, Melinda’s dedication to research and evidence-based insights proved invaluable, addressing the questions and concerns of those more familiar with traditional care models.”

In her nomination, Junis highlighted that Cooling initiated a nationally accredited fellowship program for APPs, providing a platform for education and professional growth. Additionally, she established a medical school rotation and developed a telehealth curriculum to expose providers to the specialty of virtual care demonstrating her commitment to shaping the future workforce in telehealth.

As a leader of the Illinois Medicaid Innovation Collaborative research team, Cooling has advanced positive changes to telehealth access, contributing to the broader goal of making health care more accessible to all.

Junis, who nominated both winners, is a member of the American Telemedicine Association’s Leadership Council that facilitates collaborative problem-solving and expedite practical solutions to today’s health care challenges. Junis is also among the Main Stage speakers at the ATA NEXUS 2025 conference. She’ll be presenting, From Silos to Systems: Centralizing Digital Care Leadership for Scalable Innovation.

As we begin a new year at OSF HealthCare, we’re reflecting on 2024 and the major strides in digital transformation to make access to care and health information seamless for our patients. At OSF, we continue to collaborate with our academic and business partners to leverage collective expertise and to responsibly use the power of artificial intelligence, always taking care to use guiding principles of what is fair, appropriate, valid, effective and safe (FAVES).

The efforts are highlighted here in our Top 10 Digital Health and Innovation stories of 2024 in no particular order.

1. OSF Unveils new 55+ primary care service in south suburban Chicago: Called OSF Complete Care 55+, this is a unique collaboration between OSF HealthCare Little Company of Mary Medical Center and OSF OnCall, the digital arm of the health care Ministry. When launched in early 2025, this primary care program will incorporate in-person visits, plus a mix of virtual care, digital health monitoring tools and 24/7 access to a care team focusing on those with chronic conditions.

2. Building an AI prepared workforce: OSF HealthCare leaders took just six weeks to develop mandatory training about generative AI for all 24,000 OSF Mission Partners (employees) because tools were already publicly available. Melissa Knuth, Vice President of Planning, outlines that to rise to the challenge, she worked with OSF Innovation to use mixed media to keep the content interesting and tapped generative AI tools to assist with the content creation.

3. OSF Digital Hospital patients in Rockford area say it’s the best medicine: OSF OnCall expands its digital hospital program to Rockford and receives rave reviews from some of its first patients. In addition, a well-known farm broadcaster shares her story about receiving acute-level care from the comfort of her own home and urges others who are eligible to consider the option.

4. OSF Innovation sets the table for solution to prevent cancelled surgeries: Two OSF HealthCare nurses turned to the OSF Innovation Studio team to help improve their Device Table software that serves as a database for implanted medical devices – offering information needed for surgical teams to reference for safety in surgery planning. We also reported on the creation of a spin-off company, OpenSurg, which will license and promote widespread sales of Device Table and related support features.

5. OSF HealthCare experts: ‘Establish guiding principles when developing digital care strategy’: OSF OnCall was a spotlight vendor and presenter at this year’s American Telemedicine Association’s annual Nexus conference in Phoenix, Arizona. OSF OnCall Senior Vice President Jennifer Junis advised during her presentation that health systems use guiding principles when developing their approach to digital health and to involve clinicians and patients when piloting new programs and digital tools. OSF HealthCare has also become a founding member of an ATA Digital Center of Excellence.

6. Mapping the future for early diagnosis of rare diseases: A Jump ARCHES grant-funded project with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is using generative AI and knowledge graphs that map symptoms to detect rare diseases. Adam Cross, MD, who leads the OSF Children's Innovation Lab in Peoria, Illinois, wants to create a point-of-care tool for primary care providers to help patients get an early diagnosis of a rare disease.

7. Health economist: Connectivity and trust can expand telehealth: OSF OnCall hosted its first-ever digital health symposium which drew nearly 150 clinicians and vendors. Keynote speaker health economist and advisor Jane Sarasohn-Kahn stressed evidence-based digital technologies can improve health outcomes, but health systems need to build trust and expand community partnerships to increase engagements.

8. Fast-Tracking Hope: Rapid Intake at the OSF Cancer Institute: OSF HealthCare began 2024 with the opening of its new comprehensive Cancer Institute, offering advanced radiation therapy such as brachytherapy and proton beam therapy.  It also launched a new rapid intake system, developed by OSF OnCall and OSF Innovation to offer a single point of contact through OSF-HOPE (844- 673-4467) so cancer patients can be immediately connected to treatment and support services.

9. Piloting a smarter colonoscopy: OSF HealthCare St. Joseph Medical Center piloted artificial intelligence-backed colonoscopies, using a company called GI Genius, to improve detection of precancerous polyps. During the pilot, the adenoma detection rate (ADR) averages increased among all patients involved to as high as 12%, while individual physician ADR increased as high as 32.8%. The technology is now being implemented across the OSF Ministry.

10. Testing the path to better concussion diagnosis: An OSF Innovation lab-designed FlightPath app is now being tested by athletes at Illinois State, Bradley and Illinois Wesleyan Universities. The app only takes about two minutes to collect more than a million data points as a person tries to catch a hummingbird within a 3D space on a screen. The clinical trial could last two years. 

OSF OnCall Senior Vice President Jennifer Junis has been named to the American Telemedicine Association’s newly formed Leadership Council to facilitate collaborative problem-solving and expedite practical solutions to today’s health care challenges.

The American Telemedicine Association (ATA) is a broad and inclusive member network working to advance industry adoption of telehealth, promote responsible policy, advocate for government and market normalization, and provide education and resources to help integrate digital care into emerging value-based delivery models of care.

OSF HealthCare has been a member of the American Telemedicine Association for more than 10 years. The association has been a resource as the Peoria, Illinois-based health system built its OSF OnCall digital health platform to expand access to care, particularly to vulnerable communities.

“I believe the future of health care keeps patients at the center of new models that provide expanded access to high quality, lower-cost care to improve individuals’ health and wellness, and therefore their quality of life,” said Jennifer Junis, senior vice president OSF OnCall.  “I’m excited to be among dedicated professionals committed to tackling the biggest challenges facing telehealth, uncovering new opportunities while keeping momentum strong and bipartisan support high.”  

OSF OnCall recently shared its journey to create a digital health arm at the ATA’s Nexus 2024 conference in Phoenix, Arizona. A system spotlight presentation and a high-profile, interactive exhibit showcased many OSF OnCall digital care programs.

“We were honored to share the challenging but exciting journey we’ve taken to capitalize on new technology and partnerships to enhance access, improve outcomes, and foster a culture of proactive health care management,” Junis said of the experience.

ATA Leadership Council members will meet twice a year to help prepare their organizations for emerging developments and best practices that will enhance efforts to expand telehealth.

American Telemedicine Association CEO Ann Mond Johnson says members are committed to creating evidence and building trust in health care and telehealth, and to using telemedicine to eliminate disparities in health care.

“OSF OnCall demonstrates how telehealth can be done and in fact, that it can be done. So, it represents how health systems can meet patients where they are, which is what we’re trying to do as an industry,” said Mond Johnson. “I’m so pleased to have Jennifer’s experience on the Leadership Council to help us drive policy and efforts that can help others achieve what OSF has been able to accomplish.”

Telehealth stakeholders at a recent, national conference in Phoenix detailed how digital care needs are evolving as providers shift to a longer-range, integrated, and personalized mode of digital health care.

Peoria, Illinois-based OSF HealthCare continues to expand digital transformation, by continuing to invest in research and core technologies, along with creating an omni-channel experience for patients. That transformation was highlighted during a spotlight presentation at a conference hosted by the American Telemedicine Association (ATA).

Jennifer Junius, RN, MSN, senior vice president at OSF OnCall Digital Health and John Vozenilek, MD, chief medical officer, Innovation & Digital Health at OSF HealthCare stressed that standardization, investment in infrastructure and security, along with collaboration with community partners and across departments is crucial for delivering seamless care.

OSF built upon its early foundations of digital care with an virtual ICU that was co-located in the Jump Trading Simulation & Education Center, the Innovation space for OSF HealthCare. Dr. Vozenilek shared that necessity during the COVID pandemic kicked into high gear, longer-term plans for digital transformation.

“We then built systems of care tools and technologies around that, leading up to now when we have more than 800 Mission Partners (employees) that are part of OSF OnCall.” Dr. Vozenilek added, “Through the process of innovation, we took our creativity and put it into action and that action was realized in the care we provide through OSF OnCall today.”

Junis emphasized the importance of developing guiding principles for new care models. Establishing a single point of contact to help patients navigate and seamlessly get the care they need was a big priority in the guiding principles of OSF OnCall. 

Now OSF OnCall has multiple programs that are clinically integrated, that can really care for patients 24/7/365. 

Junis explained the vision. “We wanted to create self-service tools we knew all other industries were moving towards. We wanted to put the patient’s care in their own hands by creating transparency. We wanted to be proactive.”

Other guiding principles: “We wanted to use data, innovation, and intelligence to be able to outreach to our patients when they needed something before they even knew they needed it.” Junis outlined, “We also want to empower our clinicians and employees to have the right tools, the right technology at the right time. That would lead to care for patients where and how they wanted to receive it.”

Another benefit to an integrated digital health approach is that it allows OSF HealthCare to better manage capacity. OSF OnCall focuses on three distinct efforts: digital experience (allowing patients to reach us in a way that works for them), digital care (that includes new models such as using virtual hospitalists, hospital-at-home or mobile solutions that can connect people to a care team) and on-demand services (walk-in and virtual urgent care).

OSF HealthCare is also exploring strategies to enhance care delivery such as leveraging artificial intelligence in medical technology and predictive analytics, using mobile clinics and digital health navigators and centralizing processes such as data and analytics for care management.

For example, during a Main Stage presentation at ATA, Brandi Clark, OSF OnCall vice president of Digital Care said integrating digital tools that are easy to use can transform the patient experience.

“We are really focused on the end-to-end experience of our patients and the way that our patients experience us from the front end of our website. So, Aniq (from partner Fabric Health) mentioned the AI-driven Chatbot (Clare) that we have at OSF – it’s a great example of the way that technology has changed the experience of the patient and enabled our caregivers to be focused where our patients need them to be.”

Clark says OSF is continually evaluating existing technology partnerships and whether alternatives exist that could provide more value.  Collaboration focuses on a select, few partners where there is mutual benefit to helping startups build products using health system data and insights.

Clark emphasized clinical efficiency in telehealth is vital, so pilots prioritize clinician involvement and a regular feedback loop while new technology and workflow are tested. She highlighted digital tools can help clinicians be more efficient and make more informed decisions, but they can’t replace them. Using tools to make providers better at what they do is what Clark calls “the secret sauce.”

Here is more information about OSF OnCall and OSF Innovation.

Video clips of Dr. John Vozenilek and Jennifer Junis

Video of Brandi Clark

B-roll for Use guiding principles to develop digital health strategy