Blog

June 8th, 2026 By Sylvia Trujillo, MPP, JD and Emilia Ochoa-Ruiz, MS, PMP Substance use disorders (SUDs), including opioid use disorder (OUD), remain one of the most significant public health challenges facing healthcare organizations and communities today. Recovery is rarely a straight path. Patients often navigate transportation challenges, stigma, workforce shortages, unstable housing, co-occurring behavioral health conditions, andRead more

May 18th, 2026 By Sylvia Trujillo, MPP, JD and Emilia Ochoa-Ruiz, MS, PMP Behavioral health access remains one of the most urgent and addressable challenges facing rural and underserved communities across California. While telebehavioral health is often considered one of the most established telehealth use cases, the conversation in 2026 has shifted beyond proving whether virtual care works. The focus is nowRead more

February 6th, 2026 By Sylvia Trujillo, MPP, JD and Emilia Ochoa-Ruiz, MS, PMP Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) has moved well beyond pilot programs and novelty use cases. It is now a core digital health strategy supporting chronic disease management, post-discharge care, and what many clinicians call “care between visits.” The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) definesRead more

January 16, 2026 By Sylvia Trujillo, MPP, JD and Emilia Ochoa-Ruiz, MS, PMP Rural communities across California are facing a familiar pattern. When specialty access is limited and travel distances are long, patients often bypass local care to seek services elsewhere. This can result in delayed care, fragmented follow-up, or care that never happens at all.Read more

January 13, 2026 By Emilia Ochoa-Ruiz, MS, PMP Manager, California Telehealth Resource Center Maternal Health Day is more than a date on the calendar. It is a call to action to strengthen access to safe, high-quality care for mothers and families, especially those in rural and underrepresented communities. At the California Telehealth Resource Center (CTRC),Read more

Published November 14, 2025 By Sylvia Trujillo, MPP, JD A Message to C-Suite Leaders Facing Shrinking Resources, Workforce Strain, and Growing Demand Across rural and small-community health organizations, you’re facing a daunting combination: reimbursement pressures (including threats to Medicaid and 340B funding), rising administrative burden, persistent staff shortages, and increasing complexity of care. But it’s notRead more

November 14, 2025 | Sylvia Trujillo, Executive Director On November 6, 2025, the FDA’s Digital Health Advisory Committee convened a public meeting to explore how generative AI—especially large language models—is transforming digital mental health tools. The Committee has not yet promulgated new regulations, but the meeting clearly signaled that regulatory expectations are evolving for AI‑enabled tools in mental healthRead more

Authored By: Sylvia Trujillo, CTRC Executive Director Our State continues to see an unprecedented surge in natural disasters, from devastating wildfires in Los Angeles to extreme heat in the Central Valley to earthquakes. These catastrophic events don’t just leave physical destruction in their wake – they create a growing mental health crisis that our traditionalRead more

California, known for its diverse geography and vibrant communities, faces a significant challenge in healthcare: access to specialty care. From the bustling urban centers of Los Angeles and San Francisco to the remote, rural regions of the Central Valley and the Sierra Nevada, patients across the state experience disparities in accessing specialists for conditions requiringRead more

Authored by Sylvia Trujillo The American Relief Act of 2025: Keeping Telehealth Medicare Coverage and other Flexibilities on the Table — for Now Over the weekend, the President signed the American Relief Act of 2025, a significant piece of legislation aimed at continuing essential healthcare programs and extending telehealth flexibilities for Medicare beneficiaries through MarchRead more