Welcome to Provider’s first of four digital Special Editions this year. This one, the Provider Special Technology Innovation issue, features three topics of particular import to long term/post-acute care providers.

In the first, “The Telehealth Phenomenon,” Managing Editor Amy Mendoza follows providers’ abrupt initiation into virtual physician visits for their residents and patients and how they worked with vendor partners to establish routines that are now going smoothly. Page 2.

The next topic covered is “Cyber Security Alert!” where mega guru Steven Chies fills Senior Editor and Writer Patrick Connole in on all the ways criminals can worm their way into sensitive company data via phony emails. Chies also offers tips for how employees can spot them. Page 8.

In the final article, “EMRs Assume Enhanced Role During Pandemic,” Mendoza reports a new boom in interest from providers for electronic medical records and the part they can play in safely monitoring patient care, tracking infections, and providing results quickly. Page 16.

As a follow-up in coming weeks, the writers will be posting video clips of brief interviews with their sources on providermagazine.com.​