Telehealth News and Market Developments
The Hill: We learned the value of telehealth during the pandemic: Congress must act now to extend it (8/19) – During a recent Capitol Hill briefing, Sharon described how she used telemedicine to manage a flare-up of her rare, blistering skin disease that required the knowledge of a specialist - located nearly 400 miles away in Philadelphia. Telehealth is a "godsend" for Sharon, reports Randall Rutta, CEO of the National Health Council and contributing author of a set of Principles for Telehealth Policy. Telehealth “[allows] her to manage her rare disease and to participate directly with her husband's doctors during his telehealth visits - something that has not been possible during a pandemic when only the patient and doctor can be in the room.”
Tabula Rasa HealthCare: TRHC and Drake University Partner to Demonstrate Value of Pairing Remote Patient Monitoring and MedWise® to Enhance Health Care in Rural Areas via Telehealth (8/19) – TRHC, a healthcare technology company advancing the safe use of medications, announced a new initiative with Drake University and Certintell to drive improved health outcomes and demonstrate the value of combining remote patient monitoring (RPM) and comprehensive medication management, throughout rural Iowa. The project is being funded through a 5-year $1.6 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
Business Insider: A clinic's struggles with telehealth in Silicon Valley's shadow shows how the poor are at risk of being left out of healthcare's future (8/18) – During the coronavirus pandemic, LifeLong Medical Care, which operates nonprofit clinics that care for underserved communities in and around Berkley, California made a surprising discovery – When the health centers switched many visits to phone or video appointments, LifeLong’s no-show rate drastically dropped. Now, though, LifeLong is struggling to figure out whether it should invest in expensive technology that could host more and better-quality audio and video visits, because it's not clear whether the government health programs that cover the bulk of its patients will pay for telehealth going forward.
Current Health: 81% Of Health Systems Plan to Increase Investment in Care at Home (8/18) - In this White Paper, Current Health highlights new research exploring perceptions, adoption, and trends in remote care delivery. The research – based on a survey of 250 health system decision makers – found that 89% of health systems expanded their use of remote care technology in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and 81% expect their organization to increase those investments in the next 12 months.
MobiHealthNews: TytoCare, Prisma Health partner to expand telehealth services (8/18) – Telehealth specialist TytoCare announced a partnership with Prisma Health, South Carolina’s largest healthcare system, that will enable its patients to perform telehealth-guided medical exams through Prisma providers. Prisma is also using TytoCare for its federally funded post-COVID-19 disaster relief program, offering the device to patients who would benefit from more comprehensive telehealth visits. The health system will also tap into the company’s telehealth services for use in schools, behavioral health, walk-in clinics and senior care.
Modern Healthcare: School-based telehealth centers bridge gaps in care (8/17) – Health systems are increasingly expanding telehealth services in the nation’s schools as a way of providing lower-cost primary care, especially in areas where transportation and clinician shortages are barriers to care. Partnering with Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina and the Dover Foundation, Atrium Health in 2017 launched a pilot telehealth program at three North Carolina school districts. Since its implementation, Grinton said there has been a 90% student enrollment rate resulting in several thousand telehealth appointments and a 40% reduction in emergency department visits for students that use the school-based virtual clinic.
American Board of Telehealth: American Board of Telehealth Offers New Teleprimary Care Certificate Program to Help Primary Care Teams Succeed with Virtual Services in a Post-Pandemic Future (8/17) – The American Board of Telehealth announced the launch of a new Teleprimary Care Certificate program designed to help primary care providers develop telehealth strategies for a post-pandemic future. The self-paced, online program explores innovative telehealth models and best practices that will enable primary care teams to overcome key challenges, such as reimbursement parity, regulatory barriers, infrastructure costs and new competition from retail clinics and urgent-care centers.
Health Leaders: Evolent Health Acquiring Vital Decisions In $130m Deal (8/17) – Arlington, Virginia-based Evolent Health has announced its planned $130 million purchase of Vital Decisions, an Edison, New Jersey-based telehealth company that specializes in end-of-life care. "We believe this transaction… unlocks patient engagement and telehealth as levers for ensuring patients with complex illness receive high-quality, coordinated care,” Evolent Health CEO Seth Blackley said.
Business Insider: $380 billion juggernaut UnitedHealth is getting into one of the hottest parts of healthcare, and that should be a warning for upstarts like Hims and Ro (8/16) – Optum has added several services to its online pharmacy, including a cash-only telehealth service so people can get prescriptions for birth control or medication to treat anxiety, depression and other common illnesses.
NBC News: How Black women are empowering one another to talk sexual health (8/12) – As a child, Dr. Adrienne Robertson spent a lot of time in the hospital, due to her chronic asthma. “I had some good experiences, but I honestly had a lot of negative ones where I felt like I just wasn’t listened to,” Robertson said. “That led me into a path of wanting to make a difference.” Robertson said the pandemic greatly exposed health disparities and changed the way the general population received medical care as in-person appointments were limited. She witnessed how the accessibility and privacy of telehealth resulted in more people seeing it as a viable option. It gave many marginalized patients, including Black women, an opportunity to feel more comfortable opening up about their sexual health in ways they may not have in a clinical setting prior to the pandemic.
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