Telemedicine — also called “telehealth” — is the practice of administering medical services such as diagnosis and monitoring remotely.

Although telemedicine may seem like a modern innovation, you could argue that it actually dates back to ancient Rome, when elderly and infirm patients who couldn’t visit temples for medical consultations in person sent representatives in their stead.

And in Africa, villagers used smoke signals to warn others of disease outbreaks. But telemedicine really got started with the invention of the telephone.

In fact, Alexander Graham Bell himself — the telephone’s inventor — used an early version to summon an assistant for medical attention after Bell spilled acid on his trousers.

Fast forward to the 1960s, when astronauts began going into space, and it became clear that doctors would need a remote means of monitoring a person’s medical condition.

And in the 2000s, telemedicine got another boost with the advent of the Internet, which increased the capacity to handle large amounts of medical data.

As you can see, we’ve been building our telemedicine infrastructure for decades, so when the pandemic hit, it was one of the few ways we were well-prepared. Within weeks, the federal government swept aside the remaining roadblocks, temporarily expanding Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement to healthcare providers for remote medical services. Private insurance did so as well.