Telehealth News and Market Developments
Politico: Untreated’: Patients with opioid addiction could soon lose access to virtual care (6/20) - Federal regulations that have allowed practitioners the flexibility to prescribe buprenorphine virtually — and to patients outside their state — are due to expire along with the Covid-19 public health emergency. Find more background on this policy issue on the Alliance for Connected Care website.
Inside Telehealth: Cardiology, Family Physician Leaders: Continue Audio-Only Telehealth, Care Across State Lines (6/16) – During a recent FiscalNote webinar, leaders at the American College of Cardiology, and Alliance Advisory Board Member American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), expressed support for the federal government and states making pandemic-era allowances for telehealth across state lines and audio-only services permanent beyond the COVID-19 public health emergency. Members of the American College of Cardiology are invested in making sure patients with chronic heart conditions can see their regular provider via telehealth while traveling or spending part of their time in another state. AAFP saw the percentage of their members who have used telehealth increase from 13 percent before the pandemic to 94 percent. Telehealth can help doctors more efficiently see patients and respond to their individual needs. The federal government and states should begin to modernize the regulatory infrastructure around telehealth.
Forbes: Telehealth Platform is Filling the Health Care Gap for Women with PCOS (6/15) – Allara, a new chronic care platform for women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), launched in June of last year. Over 50 percent of women with PCOS remain undiagnosed because it affects so many bodily systems. The platform reduces the difficult path to diagnosis from years to days, with their diagnostic tool testing a wide range of hormonal and metabolic markers.
Healthcare Innovation: PCORI to Fund Research on Maternal Health Inequities and Telehealth (6/15) – The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) will provide funding of up to $50 million for research on using telehealth to improve management of multiple chronic conditions. This research will generate evidence to help the health care community better understand how to leverage the use of telehealth to improve care for individuals with complex chronic needs, particularly those in vulnerable populations. The funding announcement is expected to open on September 7, 2022, according to a PCORI press release.
PR Newswire: Amid Baby Formula Shortage, Immediate Emergency Relief Provided by Lactation Telehealth Pioneers Nest Collaborative (6/14) – Nest Collaborative, a virtual lactation consultation platform, announced it is seeing the highest demand for daily consultations with its national network of lactation consultants since the infant formula shortage began in May. Because visits are covered by most insurers, Nest Collaborative has increased access to this support.
Healio: AMA seeks to expand telehealth, reform payment system and prior authorization
(6/14) – During his presidential address at the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates meeting, Gerald E. Harmon, MD outlined five actions that policymakers must take to better support physicians. One such action included to expand telehealth. To ensure the changes made during the pandemic continue after the public health emergency is lifted, Harmon said the AMA is “fighting to update our laws and regulations” to ensure telehealth can be used for chronic disease management, care coordination, tele-psychiatry, and more.
Healthcare IT News: The Challenges of Telemental Health, and How They Can Be Overcome (6/14) – In this article, the chief medical officer and cofounder of Redirect Health, a telehealth technology and services company, provides insight on how to increase telehealth accessibility. Key points include expanding access to the internet, proper telehealth training for health professionals, and adding support or modifications to better support patients with disabilities.
Forbes: Clinical Visits and Telehealth: Not Either, Or, But Both (6/14) –Rather than viewing the future of behavioral health as a choice between mental telehealth and clinical care, the focus should be on integrating the two. Telehealth can play a valuable role in providing foundational access for everyone who needs care. It’s the doctor’s office that never closes, providing informed, evidence-based advice from qualified medical professionals like nurses, physician assistants and trained therapists. An integrated model combining telehealth and clinically necessary in-person care can provide the best of both worlds.
Washington Examiner: Telehealth is Critical to Our Healthier Future (6/13) – Earlier this month, a group of 17 House Republicans released several ideas for modernizing the health care system, improving access to care, and lowering costs. One of the proposals includes safeguarding expanded access to telehealth. Making the COVID-19 telehealth flexibilities permanent after the end of the public health emergency can help eliminate onerous barriers to virtual care.
PYMTS: New Reimbursement Rules Would Spur Telehealth Innovations (6/13) – Remote patient monitoring can work with digital therapeutics to track disease states and use that patient data to fine-tune treatment. Earlier this year, CMS issued a Telehealth Update on the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, which expanded the originating sites to include the patient’s home, among others. The Alliance for Connected Care has continued to advocate
for the removal of the outdated originating site provision for telehealth.
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