Telehealth News and Market Developments
MedCity News: Cadence launches with $41M, strikes partnership with LifePoint Health (8/5) – Cadence, a provider of remote patient monitoring and virtual care services, has secured $41 million in funding and a partnership with Tennessee-based LifePoint Health. The company will implement its remote patient monitoring platform for 100,000+ LifePoint Health members with chronic conditions across the U.S.
Intermountain Healthcare: Intermountain Healthcare Expands Access, Convenience, and Equity of Care for Patients Through Hospital-Level Care at Home Program (8/5) – Hospital-level care at home is now available to patients from 12 of Intermountain’s hospitals in Utah, from Logan to St. George (385 miles), with an additional hospital location being added this summer. “Since hospital-level care at home services began, Intermountain has shifted 1,400 patient-bed days from participating hospitals to the home,” said Christine Lipson, RN, MHA, director of home services at Castell. “Our goal is to be able to offer patients the right level of care in the right place at a lower cost.”
Healthcare IT News: Asynchronous telehealth system saves Presbyterian Healthcare time and money (8/5) – Since Presbyterian Healthcare Services implemented Online Visits more than five years ago, it has grown from a new program to at least 20,000 visits per year. In 2020 alone, patients completed more than 35,000 online visits through Bright.md. These visits replace what typically required 20 minutes of provider time with a visit that takes a provider two to five minutes, on average, to evaluate and treat. Furthermore, almost half of patients who completed an online visit last year have used the technology before, and 96% of patients report they like their experience using the system, she said.
mHealth Intelligence: Mercy Health Launches New Direct-to-Consumer Telehealth Service (8/4) – Mercy Health unveiled
Mercy on Call, a direct-to-consumer telehealth platform that links adult patients with a physician or advanced practice provider. Mercy on Call providers are an extension of the local care team. They can access a patient’s electronic health record to see past medical history, allergies and medications so they can give the best possible advice. The exchange of information works both ways, as the patient’s primary care provider knows what care was provided through the service.
Health Affairs: Use Value-Based Payment to Resolve the Debate About Telehealth Payment Parity (8/2) – A new blog in Health Affairs argues that telehealth should be expanded under a phased approach that begins with assessing telehealth under payment parity and shifting to an alternate payment arrangement. As the authors describe, value-based payment models must be evaluated by statute, whereas FFS models may or may not ever be formally evaluated. The authors also note that this type of approach would rid concerns of cost and support future policy and practice.
mHealth Intelligence: Research Grants to Study Telehealth Use in Rheumatic Disease Treatment (8/2) – The Rheumatology Research Foundation has awarded grants to two studies that will assess the effectiveness of telehealth in rheumatic disease treatment and what its future looks like in a post-pandemic world. Altogether the RRF, founded by the American College of Rheumatology, is awarding $1.65 million for five different studies that will research the relationships between COVID-19 - both the virus and the resulting pandemic - and rheumatic diseases. Two of the studies will focus on how telehealth is used, how patients feel about it, and what role it will play in the field after the pandemic is over.
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