Telehealth News
STAT: (8/17) – An op-ed from Roy Schoenberg, president and CEO of Amwell, highlights the impact of COVID-19 on the transformation of virtual care. For continued adoption of telehealth, Dr. Schoenberg suggests the United State will need two things: the technology to shift a greater proportion of care to the home combined with more intense collaboration among all health care stakeholders, from health systems and health plans to patients, providers, innovators, and the government.
WLFI: (8/17) – St. Louis County is leading the way in treating the uninsured with their Telehealth services. Because of the barriers of getting to see a doctor is tough, Telehealth can serve clients in the shelter without them having to leave. Primary care and mental health are among the various services offered.
mHealthIntelligence: (8/17) – Soldier On, launched in 1994 in Pittsfield, MA, which now serves thousands of veterans in the Northeast, recently Partnered with Let’s Talk Interactive to leverage telemedicine kiosks and telehealth platforms in transitional and permanent housing and jail programs. The kiosks allow the organization’s 80 full-time caseworkers to conduct virtual visits with veterans who might otherwise ignore or skip appointments for care.
Becker’s Hospital Review: (8/17) – Hometown Health Center in Dexter, Maine announced a clinical trial to determine whether telehealth services effectively treat rural opioid addiction patients.
The Hill: (8/18) – A new op-ed from Sen. Cassidy (R-LA) and Dr. Adam Bruggeman discusses the way the healthcare system has innovated during COVID-19 with a special focus on telehealth. The op-ed also describes pre-pandemic barriers to telehealth access and calls for expanding telehealth access to all patients – regardless of their geographic location and in their home.
Healthcare IT News: (8/18) – A new survey of more than 5,000 adults in June from CynergisTek found nearly three quarters said they will continue to use telehealth post-pandemic – however, nearly two-thirds of Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation would lose their enthusiasm if data breaches became common.
Modern Healthcare: (8/18) – A new article from Modern Healthcare finds more healthcare providers are carving out telehealth leadership roles in their C-suites, a trend that will likely accelerate as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, governance experts said. There was around a 40% increase in the number of telehealth leadership roles among health system C-suites from early 2019 to early 2020, according to data from SullivanCotter.
Healthcare IT News: (8/19) – AccessHealth, which focuses on serving underserved patients has boosted mental health visits by 10% during the COVID-19 pandemic through the use of telemedicine visits.
PRNewswire: (8/19) – Instacart, announced a new partnership with Doctor On Demand to offer free access to COVID-19 screenings and virtual medical consultations to the shopper community. As part of the program, any Instacart shopper experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 may schedule a free telemedicine appointment with Doctor on Demand to discuss whether they should get tested. Instacart will cover the cost of the visit and the shopper will be eligible to receive up to 14 days of extended pay.
American Hospital Association Letter to President Trump: (8/19) – The American Hospital Association sent a letter to President Trump to make permanent the telehealth flexibilities provided during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, HHS is urging HHS and CMS to permanently:
- Expand the list of Medicare telehealth services to include services that were added during the COVID-19 pandemic and maintain the sub-regulatory process for adding additional services to the list;
- Allow virtual check-ins and e-visits to be used for new and established patients;
- Allow remote patient monitoring to be used for new and established patients, and for acute and chronic conditions;
- Allow direct supervision to be provided using real-time, interactive audio and video technology.
Healthcare IT News: (8/20) – Adventist Health announced a partnership with the AI-driven behavioral telehealth company Synchronous Health to develop behavioral health solutions to address community needs.
mHealthIntelligence: (8/21) – EMS providers are partnering in mobile integrated health programs, reducing ER transports, and improving care outcomes. “First responders have a great opportunity to use telehealth in ways that we really haven’t seen before,” says Carl Marci, chief medical officer for Ready, a two-year-old provider of mobile healthcare services that has seen business skyrocket during the coronavirus.
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