Telehealth News and Market Developments
The Hill: (3/20) – An op-ed published in The Hill discusses several recommendations for policymakers to consider for telehealth in Medicare post-COVID. Recommendations include:
- Expand the list of conditions that can be treated remotely
- Cover telehealth in primary care without geographic restriction and revisit reimbursement rates
- Cover telehealth for needed specialist care delivered to hospitals and skilled nursing facilities without geographic restriction
- invest in the telehealth infrastructure
Amazon: (3/17) – Amazon announced that beginning this summer, Amazon Care will expand its virtual care to companies and Amazon employees in all 50 states across the U.S. This expansion follows the successful launch of the service for Amazon’s own employees and their families, who have been using Amazon Care since September 2019.
Healthcare IT News: (3/16) – A New York-based managed care organization used telemedicine to decrease emergency department visits among its members. After implementing its telehealth program, with both hospital admissions and emergency room visits decreasing since 2018. Last year, 91.6% of calls resulted in patients being treated in place, with only 8.4% being transferred to the emergency department.
Healthcare IT News: (3/16) – UPMC is using RPM to study postpartum hypertension among Black and white women. "We have demonstrated feasibility and high compliance with our remote monitoring program," Hauspurg reported. "Further, we have shown improved control of hypertension and a reduction in hospital readmission associated with the program.
Palmetto Care Connections: (3/15) – The South Carolina Telehealth Alliance (SCTA) and Palmetto Care Connections (PCC) sent a letter to the South Carolina General Assembly, which was signed by 25 major health systems and associations in the state, urging lawmakers to make health insurance coverage for telehealth permanent beyond the pandemic. The letter calls for legislation that would require health insurers to continue covering telehealth services regardless of where a patient is located or the type of provider they see.
Healthcare IT News: (3/15) – Telehealth and RPM are improving care at Tanner Health System. Tanner's FCC grant funds are being used in three different areas: 1) to expand the same telehealth services already in use for neurology and psychiatry; 2) helping expand those services further to outpatient services, to include 38 Tanner Medical Group locations with more than 100 providers, including six rural health clinics in Georgia and Alabama; and 3) adding remote monitoring of patients in their homes, allowing for enhanced care management of chronic conditions that will decrease patients' chances of having to be hospitalized.
New 12 Westchester: (3/14) – Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed an executive order that extends the use of telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic. This order extends a previous order to relax certain laws regulating telehealth services that was set to expire on March 15, 2021. Governor Lamont said it was too early to end these flexibilities and extended the expiration date to April 20, 2021.
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