Telehealth Episodes

In today's episode, Lawrence Greenblatt, an ASTHO member and state health director of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, discusses the state's approach to healthy aging. Later, hear from Jewel Mullen, an ASTHO alum and associate professor at Dell Medical School, about the importance of boundary-spanning leadership in addressing public health challenges.

Colin Gerber from the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists discusses the Data Science Team Training program and how the initiative helps public health staff build data science skills through project-based training, professional development, subject matter expert coaching, and peer collaboration.

CNMI Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation's Warren Villagomez, Patrick Fitial, and ASTHO Member Esther Muna discuss how the territory prepared for back-to-back super typhoons in 2026 and responded to their aftermath. They describe efforts to activate emergency operations, protect health care facilities, plan workforce coverage, and more before the storms arrived.

Brannon Traxler, ASTHO board member and acting director of the South Carolina Department of Public Health, discusses how coordination among public health, law enforcement, emergency medical services, treatment providers, and community partners has led to a two-year decline in overdose deaths.

On today's episode, Denise Hanisch from the South Dakota Department of Health shares the state's maternal and infant health priorities, and ASTHO's Sanaa Akbarali highlights takeaways from the Region 7 Maternal Health ECHO Summit.

On today's episode, Beth Giambrone discusses ASTHO’s mid-session update, reviewing the current public health trends emerging in state legislatures.

On today's episode, Eleanor Cabrera from the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands shares how telehealth is helping transform care delivery in island jurisdictions.

Today, two conversations highlight how policy shapes public health, both in communities and on Capitol Hill. First, Beth Giambrone, senior analyst for state health policy at ASTHO, explains how states are rethinking their approach to hypertension. From telehealth and remote blood pressure monitoring to expanded insurance coverage, policymakers are leveraging new technology to improve heart health across the lifespan. Later, Jeffrey Ekoma, ASTHO’s senior director of government affairs, shares wha...

New technologies, from telehealth to wearables to AI, are transforming how health data is created, shared, and used. But for public health agencies, keeping pace isn’t just about adopting the latest tools; it’s about building systems that are flexible, trustworthy, and sustainable. In this episode, John Stinn, Deloitte Consulting managing director in government and public services, digital health practices, joins us to unpack how public health agencies can navigate a rapidly evolving data landscape.

Community health workers (CHWs) play a critical role in bridging the gap between health systems and the communities they serve, especially in rural and underserved areas. In this episode, ASTHO Senior Director of Population Health, Alex Kearly, explains who CHWs are, how they build trust and address both health and social needs, and why Medicaid reimbursement can help make these roles sustainable.

In this episode, ASTHO’s Catherine Jones, senior analyst for government affairs, breaks down the 2025 federal government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, and what made it uniquely disruptive compared to the 2018–2019 closure.

In this episode: how telehealth has evolved from a pandemic-era necessity into a powerful tool for improving access to health care. ASTHO senior analyst Ashley Cram breaks down the different types of telehealth, from video visits and audio-only consultations to remote patient monitoring, and why each plays an essential role for patients facing challenges like provider shortages, transportation barriers, or limited broadband access. Also, State Epidemiologist Tracy Miller explains how a partnership with North Dakota State University created a student assistantship program that gives MPH students hands-on experience, builds leadership skills among early career staff, and strengthens public health capacity. She shares lessons learned, how the model evolved, and why it could be a blueprint for other states and health departments looking to grow the next generation of public health professionals.

Dr. Susan Kansagra, chief medical officer at ASTHO, discusses updates to federal health initiatives that continue to impact public health agencies, including the latest report from the Make America Healthy Again Commission and recent activity regarding vaccines; Tiffany Day, public health specialist with the Henry County Health Department in Ohio, previews...

Keyonie 'Key' James, reproductive health unit manager with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, shares her takeaways as a recent graduate of ASTHO’s Developing Executive Leaders in Public Health program; Suleima Salgado, CEO of the Global Partnership for Telehealth and principal investigator for the Southeastern Telehealth Resource Center...

Jason Cummins, president of the National Tuberculosis Coalition of America, gives an update on a TB outbreak in Kansas; Dr. Charles Chima, Washington Department of Health chief healthcare innovation and strategy officer, tells us about the “clarion...

Courtney Anderson, a director with ASTHO’s Environmental Health Team, discusses a blog article on alpha-gal syndrome that was one of ASTHO’s most popular resources of 2024; Catherine Murphy, government affairs analyst for ASTHO, uses past...

Maggie Davis, ASTHO’s director of State Health Policy, examines recent state-level funding changes for public health; Dr. Pamela Mink, director of Health Services Research at the Minnesota Department of Health, tells us about a report on the impact...

ASTHO CEO Dr. Joseph Kanter and Executive Director of the National Association of Medicaid Directors, Kate McEvoy, have sent a letter to Congress to lift the Medicaid funding cap on all U.S. territories and approve a permanent 83 percent federal...

Megan Drake-Pereyra, ASTHO advisor for Public Health Infrastructure, says island area agencies are looking to update plans and processes following the pandemic; Arthur U. San Agustin, special assistant to the Office of the Governor, tells us Leaders...

Dr. Liz Wood, scholarly assistant professor at the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine at Washington State University, discusses her grant-winning research on disability data; Julia Von Alexander, ASTHO senior analyst for Island Support, says leaders...

Mike Ellsworth, Federal Relations director at the Washington State Department of Health, says his organization has released a study of telehealth activities and opportunities; Erika Kirtz, an epidemiologist at the Tennessee Department of Health, tells...

Brianna Gorman, ASTHO analyst for Performance Excellence, explains ways to connect public health and health care in communities; Dr. Lindsay Weaver, ASTHO member and state health commissioner for the Indiana Department of Health, tells us how Indiana...

Dr. Mark Levine, commissioner, Vermont Department of Health, says ASTHO’s new policy statement on suicide prevention offers many recommendations including a call to improve access to health care services for those at highest risk; Dr. Robert...

Dr. Joan Duwve, State Health Officer for the Kansas Department of Health, talks about the need to put equity at the center of all public health work; Dr. Puthiery Va, Director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, explains that...