Telehealth News and Market Developments
American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP): Evolving Telehealth Policy Brings Opportunities, Concerns (2/9) - Alliance advisory board member AAFP released a blog discussing two letters AAFP sent to the Senate Telehealth Working Group and the House Telehealth Caucus ahead of their reintroduction of the Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act. "Payment should reflect the equal level of physician work across modalities while also accounting for the unique costs associated with integrating telehealth into physician practices," AAFP stated.
Stanford Medicine: Three Innovations Shorten Heart Transplant Patient’s Wait Time (2/8) - Alliance Board member Stanford Medicine Children's Health shares a patient story on how telehealth shortened a child's heart transplant wait time. Through an established partnership with Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), the Pediatric Advanced Cardiac Therapies (PACT) program at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health used telehealth to assess a patient's health. The telehealth visit was able to connect the patient to various heart programs.
Health Leaders: Telehealth Programs are Helping to Put Health Care on the School Curriculum (2/8) - School districts across the country are partnering with local health systems and telehealth companies to give students access to primary and chronic care services, along with much-needed behavioral and mental health services. To improve access to care for both students and staff, school districts are partnering with local health systems and telehealth providers on programs that enable virtual access to care providers through a telemedicine portal.
American Hospital Association (AHA): Letter to HHS Secretary Becerra on PHE Flexibilities (2/7) - On February 7, AHA sent a letter to HHS Secretary Becerra asking him to make permanent some temporary changes established during the PHE, part of a larger push across the health industry to maintain pandemic policies as the U.S. government looks to move on. The AHA specifically asked the department to continue policies that expand telehealth use, allow workforce flexibilities and reduce “unnecessary regulatory and data reporting requirements.” For additional coverage, see Politico Pro.
Business Wire: Intermountain Health Selects Qualtrics to Help Advance Patient, Consumer and Employee Experience Management (2/7) - Alliance Board member Intermountain Health announced Qualtrics to create world-class experiences for its patients, caregivers and all populations who interact with and consume Intermountain's services by helping improve how it listens, understands and acts on experience data. With more choices in health care, patients are adopting more consumer-like behaviors and seeking the best experiences in both in-person care and telehealth. Qualtrics will work with Intermountain to listen to and analyze patient feedback on their experiences with in-person and virtual care as well as with Intermountain’s website and apps, contact center calls, social media and other digital channels.
WHAS 11: UofL Health Expands Access to Behavioral Health Support (2/7) - The University of Louisville Health is expanding its behavioral health services. Physicians with Peace Hospital announced its new telehealth program, "PeaceNow." The program helps providers, school counselors and social workers refer patients, students and clients for assessment. While PeaceNow doesn't replace crisis intervention provided by emergency departments, officials hope it reduces wait times and expedites care. Additional coverage can be found at Beckers Hospital Review.
Healthcare IT News: Memorial Health Care System Grows Its Telehealth Offerings (2/7) - Memorial Healthcare System has grown its telehealth offering to 61 programs. Its Epic EHR-linked virtual care and RPM technologies score a 97 percent patient satisfaction rating. Telehealth technology has helped the system to address many of these problems by providing remote access to health care services, so reducing costs, improving continuity of care, and increasing patient engagement and adherence to treatment plans.
Modern Healthcare: Virtual prescribing of controlled substances is in limbo as PHE winds down (2/6) The Drug Enforcement Agency could help providers by issuing a rule outlining how they can register to waive the in-person requirement. The agency is required to release the registration process as a provision of the Ryan Haight Act. But the DEA's proposal has been stuck in regulatory review since March 2022, according to the Office of Management and Budget. A DEA spokesperson said the agency is working on proposed regulations to address the issues.
Forbes: From The Pandemic To The Mainstream: The Evolving Landscape Of Telehealth (2/6) - This opinion piece features key telehealth studies to understand how telehealth can become mainstream. The author believes to ensure telehealth becomes ready for everyday implementation is to combine telehealth with existing systems and workflows. Ideally, telehealth would be a whole suite of communication systems that keeps patients at the center and connects providers in the same application. The author predicts the future of telehealth will be connective tissue of integrating multiple providers and then providing a singular view in the comfort of home.
MedCity News: Virtual Substance Use Disorder Companies Sound Alarm Over PHE Ending (2/6) - The COVID-19 PHE waived a rule that required a practitioner to conduct an in-person medical exam before prescribing controlled substances via telemedicine. Once the PHE ends on May 11, those with substance use disorder could be greatly affected, experts warned. This could be avoided if the DEA establishes a special registration rule, which would allow providers to register with the DEA to prescribe controlled substances via telemedicine. For additional coverage, see Health Leaders.
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