A revolution is occurring in the way medical care is being delivered in the United States. It is happening almost overnight.

People have stopped going to hospital emergency rooms. They have stopped going to doctors’ offices. Most of the nation is self-isolating. Doctors and patients are no exception.

They are communicating by means of phone, email, Skype, Zoom and other devices. Last December, Zoom was the host of 10 million video conferences a day. Last week, the company was hosting 200 million a day. Many of those were patient/doctor communications.

If you are like a great many people, you are probably wondering why it took so long.

Answer: government.

Within the last month we have seen some remarkable changes in public policy affecting health care. These changes have allowed and even encouraged the revolution we are witnessing. But they are changes that have been no part of the public policy debate over health care.