Telehealth is a two-way, real-time interactive communication between a patient and a physician
or practitioner at a distant site through telecommunications equipment that connects the patient
and clinician through real-time audio and video technology (AMA, 2025)
Telehealth adoption allows health care providers to bridge the gap in care by increasing
continuity of care, reducing patient travel burden, especially in rural and other underserved
populations, which ultimately helps health systems and physician practices focus more on
chronic disease management, enhancing patient wellness, improving efficiency, providing higher
quality of care, and increasing patient satisfaction. Some studies have shown how interventions
involving telehealth implementation improved HbA1c levels, treatment adherence, and self-
efficacy in diabetic patients. Implementing telehealth within this organization provides the
optimal alternative solution to traditional in-person care delivery for the underserved patients in
our community who live further than 45 minutes away from our facilities and suffer from
chronic health conditions such as hypertension and diabetes.
This Gantt chart displays a structured representation of the System Development Life Cycle
(SDLC) for implementing a new telehealth system in a midsize rural hospital using the waterfall
model. It outlines the five key phases of SDLC—planning, analysis, design and development,
implementation, and evaluation—each phase with designated subtasks, task managers, and
timelines. The chart highlights task dependencies and milestone achievements, ensuring