Telehealth News and Market Developments
Forbes: Why We Should Embrace Digital Health Care (11/23) – The application of digital tools to medicine holds the promise to significantly speed up the progress of America's health care system toward enhanced patient outcomes, improved patient experience, improved provider experience and reduced cost. More people today than ever before visit their doctor virtually via teleconference technology, with 43 percent of Medicare primary care visits taking place via telemedicine connection from March 2020 to February 2021. The challenge now is to avoid going back to the old, pre-pandemic attitude toward these tools.
The Washington Post: The US Needs Five Times as Many Child Psychiatrists (11/23) – Pediatricians are struggling to connect families and children with behavioral health disorders to psychiatrists. A significant barrier to accessing mental health care includes the lack of providers who accept Medicaid or even private insurance. One solution to address access to child psychiatrists, includes making telehealth permanent. The telehealth option is especially important for teenagers who, having grown up in a digital world, might be more comfortable with that medium. Telehealth can also make it easier for parents to connect with their children’s providers.
Forbes: Is Lack of Innovation Killing Telehealth? (11/23) – It’s vital that any changes meant to streamline telehealth services democratize access and ensure that the protection of patients’ privacy does not make it more difficult for companies to disrupt and innovate on telemedicine services. These technologies are already being explored for their potential to revolutionize the way surgeries and diagnostics are performed, but there are countless other applications to consider, particularly in the field of mental health care.
Healthcare IT News: A Golden Moment for Telehealth Depends on Meeting the Need for Broadband (11/22) – The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) established the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) in December 2021 to provide access and subsidized computing devices, such as telehealth. It's free to enroll in ACP, but many people are reluctant. Pushing people to enroll in ACP can help expand broadband reach and increase access to telehealth services.
Kaiser Permanente: Prioritize a Healthy Workforce with Access to Virtual Care (11/22) – Millions of patients have now experienced and embraced what telehealth has to offer. Employees struggle between the balance of work and health. To meet evolving preferences of the workforce, health plans should include connected virtual care options. By offering a health plan with integrated virtual care options, employees can get convenient access to care no matter where or when they need it – without the need to travel to a physical location.
Healio: Telehealth Post-Operation Visits Beneficial for Surgeons and Patients (11/21) – During a presentation at the OSN New York conference, speakers advocated for surgeons to consider incorporating telehealth practices into their routine post-operative care due to potential benefits for patients, surgeons and staff. Dr. Blake Williamson shared his implementation of telemedicine, which has led to positive results in patient satisfaction and overall practice efficiency. Dr. Williamson encouraged surgeons to put together proper reading materials and tools to educate patients on the step-by-step process of effectively setting up a virtual visit to help yield the best results for both patients and physicians.
Health Leaders: Parkview Health Expands Virtual Care Offering (11/21) – Parkview Health, a not-for-profit, Indiana-based health system, announced its virtual care program offering, which is designed to support patient recovery and self-management at home. The new program, in partnership with Veta Health, supports recovering patients at home through personalized engagement and remote patient monitoring. The multi-year partnership, which encompasses integration with the Epic electronic health record (EHR), will enable the health system to move patients more seamlessly through its care settings and reinforce the clinician-patient relationship.
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