2021 marks the start of a new administration, a new Congress, and the end of a year punctuated by a global pandemic, economic strain, and political turmoil. The start of 2021 will be dominated by efforts to contain the pandemic, as well as efforts related to transitions in the House, Senate, and federal agencies.

The new administration headed by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris places Democrats in control in the White House. In addition, Democrats control the House of Representatives and, with a slim margin, the Senate.

Unfortunately, identity theft is something that we all need to think about these days. Medical identity theft is defined by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) as when someone steals personal information such as a name, a social security number, or a Medicare number and uses it to obtain medical care, purchase drugs, or submit fake claims to Medicare.

On Friday, March 20, 2020, the entire group of audiologists I work with at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) was taking care of patients in person. Three days later, Monday, March 23, 2020, we were providing all of our services remotely. 

We had been thinking about expanding into telehealth over the past year, but we had all sorts of reasons why it wouldn’t, couldn’t, and shouldn’t work. And then one day, it had to work or we wouldn’t have been able to take care of our patients.