Suicide Prevention and Stigma Reduction with Dr. Alison Arnold Dr. Alison Arnold November 18, 2022 Danielle speaks with Dr. Alison Arnold, the Director Interdisciplinary Center for Community Health & Wellness at Central Michigan University (CMU). In this episode we discuss CMU's Preventing Suicide in Michigan Men (PRiSMM) program and how we utilize telehealth to address mental health disparities and increase access to care. See original article with audio: https://www.umtrc.org/podcasts/season-2-episode-19/ < Previous News Next News >

A Decade of Telehealth Policy: A New Report From CCHP Mei Kwong- Center for Connected Health Policy August 2022 Ten years ago, in the early months of 2012, the Center for Connected Health Policy (CCHP) faced a decision of potentially great significance. The U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORPH) Office for the Advancement of Telehealth (OAT) had released a Funding Opportunity Announcement for their Telehealth Resource Center Grant Program and the incumbent contractor for the National Telehealth Resource Center for Policy (NTRC-P) contract would not be reapplying. After weighing the pros and cons of acting as the NTRC-P, CCHP decided to take the plunge and applied. On September 1, 2012, CCHP officially started its work as the federally designated National Telehealth Policy Resource Center and have been serving that role for the past decade. To mark CCHP’s ten-year anniversary as the NTRC-P, we are releasing a look back on telehealth policy in the United States. For the past decade, CCHP has tracked and followed policy development for all 51 jurisdictions in the United States (District of Columbia included) as well as at the federal level providing us with the unique opportunity to observe and study the development of telehealth policy in the United States on both the state and federal levels. This past decade also happens to be the period that encompasses some of the most significant telehealth policy developments seen thus far in the United States. The report is not intended to be an in-depth study on telehealth policy development and history as that could easily be an entire novel given the complexities and nuances that would need to be considered. The National Telehealth Resource Center for Policy Ten-Year Anniversary Report is intended to capture some of the highlights, significant changes, and environmental factors that have had an impact on telehealth policy development in the nation. Considering the increased interest in telehealth policy, CCHP believes this report also will be useful to provide context on how telehealth policy came to be where it is today, particularly for those who may be newer to the field. Additionally, the report is meant to be a celebration of the time CCHP has spent as the NTRC-P including the contributions the organization has made to the telehealth field. This report is dedicated to the memory of Mario Gutierrez, CCHP Executive Director from 2011-2017. Mario was the original visionary who decided in 2012 that CCHP should apply for the project. A special thank you must also be extended to CCHP staff, both past and present, who have truly been the engine that continues to drive the work of the organization forward. Special acknowledgment must be made of Laura Stanworth, Deputy Director, and Christine Calouro, Senior Policy Associate, both who have been with CCHP from the beginning of its role as the NTRC-P and who, along with myself, have seen this past decade of telehealth policy development, including producing all information and navigating CCHP through those first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope you will enjoy this report and find the information useful. CCHP looks forward to continuing on the ever evolving telehealth policy journey with all of you. See full report: https://mailchi.mp/cchpca/a-decade-of-telehealth-policy-our-10-year-anniversary-report < Previous News Next News >

Telehealth integrated into EHR is the way to go for CarDon & Associates Bill Siwicki October 19, 2021 The skilled nursing organization has a 90% treat-in-place rate for all telehealth encounters, and data from its platform has helped identify areas for improvement. Just before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, CarDon & Associates, which operates 20 senior housing/skilled nursing communities in the Midwest, was exploring different ideas to give its staff time back, improve resident outcomes and reduce rehospitalizations. THE PROBLEM The organization wanted an effective telehealth platform with new technologies to streamline the process for contacting physicians and improving documentation in its system of record. It also wanted to give its nurses a sense of confidence with technology that could guide them through assessments to keep residents in-house. "Once the pandemic started, we had to act fast and implement new portable devices and temporary solutions to provide virtual physician and consult visits as well as provide our residents a way to connect with their families and friends," said Brandy Armstrong, RN, director of clinical information at CarDon & Associates. "The swift implementation worked, but we still wanted a better, more secure solution that would assist our staff and provide quality care for our residents. The pandemic made searching for a telehealth platform a higher priority." PROPOSAL CarDon & Associates turned to Third Eye Health for a telehealth solution. The telehealth technology offered fast connectivity with access to board-certified, state-licensed physicians who are trained to provide care in a post-acute setting. Coverage includes nights, weekends and holidays. "The solution includes a care coordination team that facilitates communication between our care team and their physicians," Armstrong explained. "Our care team could communicate with telehealth physicians and the care coordination team through the platform. The system sends alerts to the user's email for new messages, watch lists and new encounters. "The purpose of the platform was to provide an easy-to-use application on a portable device that would give our nurses quick access to physicians to treat our residents in-house, improve documentation and provide reporting and analytics." Brandy Armstrong, RN, CarDon & Associates "They also offer a cloud-based, HIPAA-compliant platform that integrates with our EHR," she continued. "All telehealth-generated documentation includes a wet signature that imports from their platform into our system of record." Lastly, the vendor offers reporting and analytics that measure clinical performance, usage, resident encounters treated in place and chief complaints. "The purpose of the platform was to provide an easy-to-use application on a portable device that would give our nurses quick access to physicians to treat our residents in-house, improve documentation and provide reporting and analytics," she said. MARKETPLACE There are many vendors of telemedicine technologies and services on the health IT market today. Healthcare IT News has published a special report detailing many of the vendors and their offerings. Click here to read the special report. MEETING THE CHALLENGE Before implementing the telehealth solution, CarDon & Associates distributed iPads to all nurses and CNAs, so it was already starting to transition to a more mobile workflow. After it deployed portable devices, the organization started implementing the new telehealth solution with training provided by vendor staff. "Our nurses use the telehealth platform heavily as part of their everyday workflow during the evening and weekend coverage time," Armstrong noted. "The nurses have a portable device to use specifically for telehealth encounters. They sign in at the beginning of their shift and contact the telehealth provider when needed. "The nurses use the platform for new admissions, readmissions, bridging scripts and changes in condition," she added. "They can have video encounters with the touch of a button and interact with a physician within two minutes." The telehealth solution is integrated with the organization's system of record from vendor MatrixCare. The organization collaborates with telehealth vendor staff along with MatrixCare staff to ensure successful integration with each facility at which it implements the technology, she said. RESULTS To date, CarDon & Associates has a 90% treat-in-place rate for all telehealth encounters. Out of 2,090 consults, 1,826 residents were treated in place. Using the data in the telehealth platform, the organization was able to identify areas for improvement. And improved documentation has been integrated with the system of record. ADVICE FOR OTHERS Armstrong has a variety of tips for healthcare organizations considering similar telehealth systems integrated with EHR technology: Identify what problems you are trying to solve, what goals you are trying to meet and how you will evaluate outcomes. Determine who in your organization will develop a policy and procedure, and who will be involved with planning, implementation and evaluation. Involve frontline staff in discussions to get their input, insight and buy-in. Buy-in will be necessary for the implementation phase. Consider appointing a champion to help with ongoing education to ensure the technology is being used the way it was intended. Share your outcomes with staff members within your organization. Twitter: @SiwickiHealthIT Email the writer: bsiwicki@himss.org Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/telehealth-integrated-ehr-way-go-cardon-associates < Previous News Next News >

The changing landscape of telehealth: 4 federal legislative developments Naomi Diaz May 24, 2022 Federal lawmakers have introduced four bills that look to update, continue, renew and expand telehealth access for patients and providers. Below are recent federal developments for policy, regulatory and legal changes related to telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to JD Supra: HHS' $16.3 million for Title X family planning program: On May 10, HHS announced it will release $16.3 million in grants for family planning groups to expand telehealth services and infrastructure. The funds will be made available through the American Rescue Plan and will be awarded to 31 Title X family planning programs and facilities. Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act: The bill, introduced May 6, would provide grants to schools and emergency departments to scale up or expand pediatric mental health telehealth access. Women's Health Protection Act: Introduced May 4, this bill would protect a provider's ability to provide abortion services via telehealth. Telehealth Extension and Evaluation Act: This bill, introduced April 26, would extend telehealth flexibilities enabled by Medicare for two years following the COVID-19 pandemic. < Previous News Next News >

Interstate Telehealth Use By Medicare Beneficiaries Before And After COVID-19 Licensure Waivers, 2017–20 Juan J. Andino, Ziwei Zhu, Mihir Surapaneni, Rodney L. Dunn, and Chad Ellimoottil Abstract During the COVID-19 pandemic, all fifty states and Washington, D.C., passed licensure waivers that allowed patients to participate in telehealth visits with out-of-state clinicians (that is, interstate telehealth). Because many of these temporary flexibilities have expired or are set to expire, we analyzed trends in interstate telehealth use by Medicare beneficiaries during 2017–20, which covers the period both directly before and during the first year of the pandemic. Although the volume of interstate telehealth use increased in 2020, out-of-state telehealth made up a small share of all outpatient visits (0.8 percent) and of all telehealth visits (5 percent) overall. For individual states, out-of-state telehealth made up between 0.2 percent and 9.3 percent of all outpatient visits. We found that most out-of-state telehealth use was for established patient care and that a higher percentage of out-of-state telehealth users lived in rural areas compared with beneficiaries who did not receive care outside of their state (28 percent versus 23 percent). Our collective findings suggest that the elimination of pandemic licensure flexibilities will affect different states to varying degrees and will also affect the delivery of care for both established patients and rural patients. View Full Article: https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/abs/10.1377/hlthaff.2021.01825?journalCode=hlthaff < Previous News Next News >

Medicare Telehealth: Actions Needed to Strengthen Oversight and Help Providers Educate Patients on Privacy and Security Risks U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) September 26, 2022 To help patients access care during the pandemic, Medicare temporarily waived restrictions on telehealth—health care services delivered via phone or video. The use of telehealth services rose tenfold: 53 million telehealth visits in Apr.-Dec. 2020 vs. 5 million during the same period in 2019. But Medicare hasn't comprehensively assessed the quality of care patients received, and lacks data on telehealth services delivered in patients' homes or via phone. Patients may also be unaware that their private health information could be overheard or inappropriately disclosed during their video appointment. Our recommendations address these issues. Highlights What GAO Found In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) temporarily waived certain Medicare restrictions on telehealth—the delivery of some services via audio-only or video technology. Use of telehealth services increased from about 5 million services pre-waiver (April to December 2019) to more than 53 million services post-waiver (April to December 2020). Total utilization of all Medicare services declined by about 14 percent post-waiver due to a 25 percent drop in in-person service use. GAO also found that, post-waiver, telehealth services increased across all provider specialties, and 5 percent of providers delivered over 40 percent of services. Urban providers delivered a greater percentage of their services via telehealth compared to rural providers; office visits and psychotherapy were the most common services. See full article: https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-22-104454 < Previous News Next News >

Telemedicine and diagnosis Adriana Albini September 27, 2022 The adoption of telemedicine and its range of applications grew exponentially in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the general consensus now is that it is here to stay, albeit perhaps with a more hybrid bias of in-person and remote visits. Telediagnosis, or TeleDx, i.e., the identification of a disease at a site remote from the patient, has expanded to include primary care, revolutionising the way in which patients and doctors communicate with each other and establish rapport. It is still early days to fully evaluate the effect of virtual vs in-person visit on diagnostic error, but there are guidelines for health professionals to conduct effective virtual examinations, and many best practice examples, both in terms of ways to gather information from the patient (from wording of questionnaires to digital records, home environment, and so on) and technological innovations. In cancer care, pathology plays a central role in the final diagnosis upon which clinicians will develop treatment for their patient, and remote pathology can offer many advantages, such as easier access to pathology experts, consultation among specialists, timely and secure availability of images, and so on. Up until the 1990s, pathologists worked almost entirely within the constraints of the analogue world, with physical glass slides and microscopes. Some attempts were made at capturing virtual images of slides through a tiling method, which was time consuming and prone to error, as it required accurate placing and extensive stitching together of images. But at the end of that decade, engineer Dirk G. Soenksen (founder, and CEO of Aperio) devised a much more efficient system based on a linear scanner, the ScanScope, that allowed for tightly focussed and fast slide image capture, opening a new era for the practice of pathology. Whole slide imaging, or WSI, was first employed in education and research but in recent years, with the improvement of its technology, it has received regulatory approval by the FDA and around the world for diagnostic use as well. The potential for feeding AI algorithms to provide diagnostical support is massive, as virtual slides are accumulating fast and standardised databases are being built. “Telemedicine in Cancer Care Continuum: implementation and integration”, was an online conference developed by the SPCC in collaboration with the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), which took place on 6-7 May 2022. In his presentation, Liron Pantanowitz, Professor of Pathology, and Director of Anatomical Pathology at the University of Michigan, talked about telepathology in both its non-acute and acute settings, focussing more extensively on the latter. The term ‘telepathology’ was coined by Ronald S. Weinstein in 1986, after he organised the first public event of satellite-enabled dynamic-robotic distant pathology, but the very first live telepathology ever performed dates as far back as to 1968. Massachusetts General Hospital set up a two-way television link with Boston’s Logan Airport that enabled doctors at the hospital to remotely study blood smears, urine samples and X-rays for patients at the airport, and even listen to their heartbeat with an electronic stethoscope. However, as in the case of telehealth in general, the adoption of digital pathology had to wait until the Covid-19 pandemic to be widely implemented. To facilitate continuity of healthcare while social distancing, certain restrictions were lifted, such as CLIA in the US, allowing pathologists to work from home and sign out cases. The first use of telepathology Prof. Pantanowitz looked at was for frozen section consultation. There are several challenges when a pathologist is asked to provide an intraoperative consultation. The pathology specimen is fresh, not easy to cut. The frozen section itself is difficult to prepare and is often filled with artifacts. These artifacts not only make it hard to read the glass slides but can compound the problem when using digital images. The turnaround time needs to be rapid. Usually, pathologists strive for less than 20 minutes to provide the surgeon with an answer. And they are under serious diagnostic pressure because if they get it wrong, it is difficult to reverse the surgical decision that has been made based on their diagnosis. Over the past 54 years different modes of practising telepathology have been developed. A pathologist on site can take static images, which is easy but too time-consuming. There is also video microscopy, live streaming from one pathologist to another. If there is no pathologist present on site to read the slides, there are systems such as robotic microscopy, where the pathologist can remotely take control of the functions on a microscope, such as navigation and focus. And there is also Whole Slide Imaging, which is the entire digitization of a slide to be remotely reviewed. Thanks to advancements in technology, hybrid devices are now available from many vendors with robotics and Whole Slide Imaging functions in one scanner. See full article: https://cancerworld.net/telemedicine-and-diagnosis/ < Previous News Next News >

How Americans Feel About Telehealth: One Year Later Sykes.com April 21, 2021 In March 2020 and 2021 we polled 2,000 adults to discover their perspectives on and experience with telehealth — how have opinions changed one year into the COVID-19 pandemic? Pre-pandemic, telehealth was much more of a novelty than a necessity in the healthcare industry. The idea of contacting your doctor remotely for care was promising, but there were major hurdles — obstacles that would require time, effort, and ingenuity to overcome. Then, COVID-19 created a need for safe, distant medical care and advice. And necessity, like always, is the mother of invention (or in this case, adoption). Suddenly, millions of patients who were once walk-ins became logins, and soon, all that was necessary to get a quality checkup was a stable Wi-Fi connection. SYKES’ March 2020 telehealth survey revealed new insights on what Americans thought about the rise of virtual visits to the doctor and the concept of telehealth in general. At that point, telehealth was still a radical idea, and phrases like “new normal” had yet to overstay their welcome. Research outlined in the SYKES Fall 2020 telehealth apps report made it clear that all kinds of new users had already begun scheduling consultations in cyberspace due to COVID-19. But now, with vaccines being administered all over the world, will this mean a decline in socially distanced telehealth services too? Or will patients still want access to virtual doctor visits even after distance is no longer a factor? To find out, we asked 2,000 Americans in March 2021 how their opinions on telehealth have changed over the past year, what they’ve experienced, and what they think should stick around even after vaccines are widely available. For full story: https://www.sykes.com/resources/reports/how-americans-feel-about-telehealth-now/ < Previous News Next News >

Using Telemedicine When it Makes Sense Adam Ang October 11, 2022 Patients worldwide prefer a mix of in-person and virtual care moving forward from the pandemic. During the pandemic, organisations across private and public healthcare systems have been rethinking their care delivery models. This is one of the major trends Ronald L. Emerson, Global Healthcare Lead at Zoom, shared virtually in the keynote session, "The Rise of Digital First and Decentralized Healthcare," at the HIMSS22 APAC conference. He was joined by Benjamin Lim, Zoom's APAC Leader for ISV Platform Business, who moderated the discussion in person. Recently commissioned research by Zoom found that patients who have used telehealth once prefer a hybrid mode of care post-COVID-19. This has given rise to digital-first healthcare, which does not mean "digital only." "What it does mean is that many healthcare systems, public and private, are developing virtual care models or hybrid models of care," Emerson said. "They thought to let the interaction or the clinical situation dictate the level of care that is needed… If they can handle [visits] over telemedicine and take care of the patient, the patient doesn't need more expensive care. They don't have to come to the emergency room or the hospital or the physician's office. And so we're seeing a large shift in that area and it's decreasing the entry point into the healthcare system," he noted. Rather than an all-digital model of care, a care model that makes sense to a patient's situation is ideal to bridge the gap in healthcare access. "I think our goal with telemedicine is how we utilise it when it makes sense. I am not for an all-digital care model, an all-video model, an all-virtual care model; I'm all for a model that makes sense based on the actual clinical application that can lower the threshold and increase access when people need the care [so] then we can make a better decision on the clinical disposition of the patient," Emerson shared. Telemedicine adoption Another key trend is the rise of video-assisted virtual visits during the pandemic. Care providers are now getting their money's worth in using cost-efficient virtual care technologies. In taking on a vendor's telemedicine platform, care providers usually consider the following: patient acceptability, clinical efficacy, and cost and sustainability. "We're actually seeing the return on investment and sustainability of the project. Vendors and organizations like Zoom have really lowered the price point where these projects are sustainable," Emerson said. Zoom has found its success in integrating as few workflows as possible in an organisation's existing centralised platform. "Healthcare professionals do not want any more platforms to manage. They wanna use their sort of centralized platform if they have electronic medical records," he mentioned. Decentralised healthcare Finally, Emerson noted how organisations are making efforts to reach out to patients across the continuum of care and work to provide the same levels of care they would receive in an in-hospital setting. This trend of decentralised healthcare is happening, he claimed, because health systems now are not just focusing on sickness but also on the ability to keep people healthy through wellness and prevention, education, and better discharge planning – all of which require virtual technology and communication. "We expect to see more and more of this [in] other places," he quipped. Virtual health as a strategic goal For organisations looking to develop their own digitally-enabled care delivery models, Emerson shared that the way to success is by making virtual health a strategic goal in their care provision. "That means the doctors are on board, it's written in their job descriptions. [It's going to be a] part of the delivery system of how we take care of people," he said. See original article: https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/asia/using-telemedicine-when-it-makes-sense < Previous News Next News >

New FAIR Health White Papers Shows Large Telehealth Utilization Increases Before COVID-19 Center for Connected Health Policy April 2021 Results showed that telehealth utilization increased by 73% from 2018 to 2019 with telehealth claims comprising over one-third of all health care claims in 2019. In its fourth edition of the Healthcare Indicators and Medical Price Index White Paper, FAIR Health found that the fastest area of healthcare utilization growth from 2018 to 2019 occurred for telehealth services. FAIR Health conducted the annual analysis using its data repository of 32 billion claims for patients in commercial insurance plans. Results showed that telehealth utilization increased by 73% from 2018 to 2019 with telehealth claims comprising over one-third of all health care claims in 2019. FAIR Health also noted that the most common claim type for telehealth was for mental health services, bolstering other recent evidence that telehealth utilization continues to grow for behavioral and mental health services. The findings are an important contribution to ongoing policy discussions about where telehealth is going after the pandemic. While most telehealth experts have been paying close attention to telehealth utilization during the pandemic, these findings suggest that the story of telehealth’s rapid growth likely begins in 2019, one year prior to the public health emergency. FAIR Health is a national nonprofit organization that maintains a large database of privately insured healthcare claims data. The organization performs healthcare utilization and cost analyses on market trends for use by researchers, consumers, and industry stakeholders. For more information about FAIR Health's data, view their website. FAIR Health Consumer: https://www.fairhealthconsumer.org/#about FH Healthcare Indicators and FH Medical Price Index 2021: https://s3.amazonaws.com/media2.fairhealth.org/whitepaper/asset/FH%20Healthcare%20Indicators%20and%20FH%20Medical%20Price%20Index%202021--A%20FAIR%20Health%20White%20Paper--FINAL.pdf < Previous News Next News >

New Study Pitches Telehealth as Safer Than the Doctor’s Office Eric Wicklund, mhealthintelligence August 2021 In a nod to the value of telehealth in primary care, researchers have found that a person visiting the doctor's office shortly after a visit from someone with the flu has a much higher chance of getting the flu as well. A new study makes a strong case for telehealth as an alternative to the doctor’s office, particularly during flu season. Researchers from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Harvard Medical School and the university’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health and athenahealth have found that people who visit their doctor’s office after someone infected with the flu has visited that office are much more likely to come down with the flu themselves. That same increase wasn’t seen in people seeking treatment for issues like urinary tract infections. The study, published this month in Health Affairs, suggests that primary care providers embrace virtual visits as a means of reducing that chance of infection. “It’s a widely accepted fact that patients can acquire infections in hospital settings, but we show that infection transmission can happen when you visit your doctor’s office, too,” Hannah Neprash, an assistant professor at UM’s School of Public Health and one of the study’s authors, said in a news release issued by the university. “Our findings highlight the importance of infection control practices and continued access to telemedicine services, as health care begins to return to pre-pandemic patterns,” she added. "In-person outpatient care for influenza may promote nontrivial transmission of these viruses. This may be true for other endemic respiratory illnesses too, including COVID-19, but more research is needed." The study, which tracked office visits from a national sample of insurance claims and EHR data compiled by athenahealth, is reportedly the first to connect the dots between office visits and the progression of a flu outbreak. According to that data, patients visits their primary care provider were almost 32 percent more likely to contract the flu within two weeks if that PCP had seen someone with the flu within the previous two weeks. In addition, that office would then serve as an incubator for the flu, infecting more patients over time. Neprash and her fellow researchers say their study supports the need for “triage to telemedicine” policies in clinics and medical offices when a patient shows signs of a contagious viral infection like the flu. “Given that upper respiratory symptoms are among the most common reasons for any patient to see a physician, these results highlight the importance of protocols to mitigate the risk for transmission,” the study notes. “Clinically, many of these patients will be at low risk for complications with telemedicine evaluation.” It also suggests that care providers develop “strict infection control practices” whenever a patient showing signs of the flu or a similar virus need to be seen in person. This would include mask-wearing, hand hygiene and putting patients in separate exam rooms that can be decontaminated after a visit. Finally, the study makes a case for continued support for telehealth coverage at a rate equal to in-person care. “Lawmakers in Congress are actively debating the future of telemedicine policy and how it should be reimbursed after the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic recedes,” the study notes. “It is possible that telemedicine reimbursement after the pandemic will be restricted to certain specialties or diagnoses or reimbursed at a rate low enough that many clinicians decide to forgo telemedicine as a mechanism for care delivery. Our results argue that clinically, for infection control, telemedicine should remain a financially viable option for clinicians to provide care for viral respiratory symptoms. < Previous News Next News >

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CONGRESS UNVEILS TWO YEAR EXTENSION OF TELEHEALTH FLEXIBILITIES – AS URGED BY THE ATA AND ATA ACTION – AS PART OF OMNIBUS BILL The American Telemedicine Association December 20, 2022 Today, the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) and ATA Action express their gratitude to the U.S. Congress for unveiling a bipartisan, bicameral omnibus appropriations bill that includes a two-year extension for Medicare telehealth provisions put in place during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). The omnibus package also includes a two-year delay in implementing the Medicare telemental health in-person requirement, a two-year extension of the safe harbor to offer telehealth in High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs) with Health Savings Account (HSAs), and a two-year extension of the Acute Hospital Care at Home Program. Congress is expected to vote on the omnibus bill and send it to President Biden to be signed into law within the next week. The omnibus did not include a comparable extension past the end of the PHE of the Ryan Haight in-person waiver for the remote prescription of controlled substances. However, the legislation does include language directing the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to promulgate final regulations specifying the circumstances in which a Special Registration for telemedicine may be issued and the procedure for obtaining the registration. “The ATA and ATA Action never wavered from our appeal to Congress, to provide stability around the life-saving telehealth flexibilities that have become a relied upon and valued option for healthcare providers and patients. Today, our Congressional telehealth champions on both sides of the aisle came through for the American people and for ATA and ATA Action members, by meeting our plea for more certainty around telehealth access for the next two years, while we continue to work with policymakers to make telehealth access a permanent part of our healthcare delivery for the future,” said Kyle Zebley, senior vice president, public policy, American Telemedicine Association, and executive director, ATA Action. “We asked Congress and they listened. We are truly grateful for their staunch support of telehealth. It’s now time to swiftly bring this bill to the President, for passage into law before year-end.” Stakeholder Letter to Congressional Leadership – Urging Extension of Telehealth Flexibilities Stakeholder Letter Urging Congress to Act on the Telehealth High Deductible Health Plan Safe Harbor Tax Provision ATA’s Recommendation’s for Acute Hospital Care at Home Program Stakeholder Letter Urging the DEA to Act on the Prescription of Controlled Substances via Telehealth Before the PHE Expires “We greatly appreciate Congress including extensions the High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) and Health Savings Account (HSA) telehealth tax provision, giving American workers continued access to needed telehealth coverage without first having to meet annual deductibles, including telemental health services. Further, the extension to the Acute Hospital Care at Home Program ensures continued access to this patient-centered care delivery model that is proving to effectively lower cost of care while improving patient health outcomes and satisfaction. “The ATA and ATA Action are delivering on our promise, to advocate for permanent access for telehealth services and today marks a significant milestone towards that goal. But the hard work continues, as we persist in pressing telehealth permanency and creating a lasting roadblock to the ‘telehealth cliff.’ Additionally, we will continue to work with Congress and the Biden administration to make sure that a predictable and preventable public health crisis never occurs by giving needed certainty to the huge number of Americans relying on the clinically appropriate care achieved through the Ryan Haight in-person waiver.” About ATA Action ATA Action recognizes that telehealth and virtual care have the potential to transform the healthcare delivery system by improving patient outcomes, enhancing the safety and effectiveness of care, addressing health disparities, and reducing costs. ATA Action is a registered 501c6 company and an affiliated trade organization of the ATA. About the ATA As the only organization completely focused on advancing telehealth, theAmerican Telemedicine Association is committed to ensuring that everyone has access to safe, affordable, and appropriate care when and where they need it, enabling the system to do more good for more people. The ATA represents a broad and inclusive member network of leading healthcare delivery systems, academic institutions, technology solution providers and payers, as well as partner organizations and alliances, working to advance industry adoption of telehealth, promote responsible policy, advocate for government and market normalization, and provide education and resources to help integrate virtual care into emerging value-based delivery models. See original article: https://www.americantelemed.org/press-releases/congress-unveils-two-year-extension-of-telehealth-flexibilities-as-urged-by-the-ata-and-ata-action-as-part-of-omnibus-bill/ < Previous News Next News >

Telehealth Elements in American Rescue Plan COVID Relief Bill Center for Connected Health Policy April 2021 $50 million in grants for local behavioral health services, including via telehealth, and $140 million for information technology, telehealth and electronic health records at the Indian Health Service. March marked the passage of the third major COVID-9 relief bill (HR 1319), titled the American Rescue Plan. While the bill didn’t include significant changes in telehealth policy as past relief legislation has, it did have some nuggets for telehealth. For example, it establishes an Emergency Rural Development for Rural Healthcare Grant pilot that would, among other things, support telehealth programs. The bill also allots $50 million in grants for local behavioral health services, including via telehealth, and sets aside $140 million for information technology, telehealth and electronic health records at the Indian Health Service. To learn more, see the full text of the bill. American Rescue Plan: https://www.congress.gov/117/bills/hr1319/BILLS-117hr1319enr.pdf Indian Health Services: https://www.ihs.gov/ < Previous News Next News >

Senator Warner Encourages DEA Action on Telehealth & Prescribing Center for Connected Health Policy May 2021 A lack of a more permanent fix to the prescribing issue could create hurdles for patients to access treatment to SUD services. Earlier this month Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland regarding the long-delayed regulations from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) for a telehealth registry to prescribe controlled substances. In the letter, Senator Warner expressed great concern for the delay and that “the DEA’s failure to address this issue means that a vast majority of health care providers that use telehealth to prescribe controlled substances to and otherwise treat their patients have been deterred in getting them the quality care they need.” The Ryan Haight Act of 2008 allowed for certain exemptions to the use of telehealth to provide controlled substances without the telehealth provider having seen the patient in-person first, however these exemptions are narrowly tailored. Two such exemptions are: when a public health emergency (PHE) is declared, and if a provider is registered on a telehealth registry that the DEA will create. Due to the current COVID-19 PHE, providers now are able to prescribe a controlled substance without an in-person visit, but the exemption will disappear once the PHE is declared over. In 2018 under the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act, Congress directed the DEA to promulgate final regulations for the registry by the end of 2019. Although a December 2019 regulatory posting indicated the DEA’s intent to publish the rule, the deadline came and went without even draft regulations being released for public comments. In March 2020, a PHE for COVID-19 was declared allowing one of the exceptions for prescribing to be activated. However, the PHE is not slated to last indefinitely and many, including Senator Warner, are looking for a more lasting change. Senator Warner also sent inquiries to the previous administration regarding the status of the registry regulations that went unanswered. During COVID-19, concern for the ability of patients with substance use disorders (SUD) to access services rose as demands on health services focused on responding to the pandemic and people sheltered in place. While much of the country is beginning to open up again, a lack of a more permanent fix to the prescribing issue could create hurdles for patients to access treatment to SUD services. < Previous News Next News >

Teladoc Reports $133M Net Loss in Second Quarter, but Visit Numbers Are Up Kat Jercich, Healthcare IT News July 2021 Meanwhile, Amwell announces its acquisition of SilverCloud Health and Conversa Health. The virtual care giant Teladoc released its earnings report this week, showing a net loss of $133.8 million for the second quarter of 2021. Total net loss for the first half of 2021 was $333.5 million, compared to $55.3 million for the same time period last year. At the same time, the vendor said its $503 million second-quarter revenue earnings had more than doubled compared with 2020. This change led Teladoc to forecast its total yearly revenue to be in the range of $2 billion to $2.025 billion, with a predicted net loss between $3.35 and $3.60 per share. Its visit numbers were also up, at 3.5 million: 28% higher than the second quarter of 2020, during the first wave of the pandemic. The company expected 13.5 million and 14 million total visits this year. After the earnings report, Teladoc's shares fell more than 7% in the extended session Tuesday, as reported by MarketWatch. Still, execs voiced optimism, driven in part by the launch of myStrengthComplete and what the company described as a "significant new agreement" with the Health Care Service Corporation. "Teladoc Health delivered a strong second quarter, marked by exciting new client wins, product launches, and tremendous progress on our quest to be the category-defining provider of whole person virtual care," said CEO Jason Gorevic in a statement. "We have solid momentum heading into the second half as the market embraces the unified care experience that only Teladoc Health has the breadth and scale to achieve," he added. New Amwell acquisitions Teladoc competitor Amwell was also in the news this week for its $320 million acquisition of SilverCloud Health and Conversa Health. SilverCloud Health delivers a range of digital cognitive behavioral health programs, which the company says are evidence-based and clinically validated. According to SilverCloud, the programs are used by more than 300 organizations, including Kaiser-Permanente, Optum and Providence Health. Amwell will use the platform to enrich its own behavioral health offerings and develop new programs. Conversa Health, meanwhile, uses automated patient interactions to ensure patients stay on track before and after live or virtual visits. It is used, the company says, by organizations including Northwell Health, UCSF Health, UNC Health, University Hospitals and Prisma Health. Amwell says it will use Conversa's technology to advance initiatives aimed at longitudinal care, clinical quality and population health. The acquisitions will also enable Amwell to create new digital workflows and programs and expand its client base to include those of Conversa and SilverCloud – especially in the U.K. "We believe that future care delivery will inevitably blend in-person, virtual and digital care experiences; and as such, we are uniquely building a global platform to support such advanced, coordinated care," said Ido Schoenberg, chairman and co-CEO at Amwell. "By integrating SilverCloud Health and Conversa Health into our platform, we are demonstrating Amwell’s fundamental and repeatable design to continually scale digital healthcare services across the different sites of care," he added. "These acquisitions will amplify the presence and reach of care teams and reaffirm that as the needs of the healthcare marketplace evolve so too will the Amwell platform." < Previous News Next News >

Can we provide care across state lines? By Jan Ground PT, MBA, SWTRC Colorado Ambassador March 3, 2021 Snow birds. Not the kind that fly (certainly not now with COVID) but the human kind. For those of you who never heard the term before, snow birds are typically retirees who travel south in the winter to states like Arizona, New Mexico and Florida to get away from the snow and cold up north than go back up north in the summer when the heat hits the south. What does this have to do with telemedicine? A lot actually and not just with snow birds. We are a mobile population. People don’t stay in one place their entire lives anymore – we move around, we travel but when we move from one place to another we don’t get to leave our health conditions behind us. They stay with us and sometimes we just get sick when we travel. Being creatures of habit, however, most people like to have consistency in their health providers. We like to think that our PCP and specialists that we see know us and our problems, that we have a relationship. Back to the snow birds – if my cardiologist lives in Chicago and I see her during the summer I want to see her during the winter as well when I’m relaxing by the pool in Tucson staying warm. Problem is she’s back in Chicago shoveling snow so how can I see her? Telemedicine of course but it’s not that easy. An interstate compact is a contract between two or more states creating an agreement on a particular policy issue, including, but not limited to, the facilitation of licensure of clinicians in states other than that in which the clinician holds his/her home state of licensure. Currently, licensure compacts exist for physicians, nurses, physical therapists, psychologists, emergency management personnel, and speech-language pathologists/audiologists. Licensure compacts for physician assistants, counselors, advanced practice nurses, and occupational therapists are under development. Interstate Compact Models Mutual Recognition (Reciprocity) allows a clinician in a compact state ("home state") to practice in any of the other compact states without obtaining additional licensure in the remote states. The clinician’s home state license is “mutually recognized” by other compact member states. This model allows a practitioner to practice in the compact member states either using a multistate license or by obtaining a “compact privilege”. Expedited Licensure Participating U.S. states work together to significantly streamline the licensing process for physicians who want to practice in multiple states. It offers a voluntary, expedited pathway to licensure for physicians who qualify. These licenses are still issued by the individual states – just as they would be using the standard licensing process – but because the application for licensure in these states is routed through the Compact, the overall process of gaining a license is significantly streamlined. Physicians receive their licenses much faster and with fewer burdens. The Interstate Medical Licensure Compact is the only expedited licensure compact. With the national and state emergency orders related to COVID-19, the regulations requiring that licensed clinicians provide care only to patients who are physically located in the state(s) in which the clinician is licensed to practice have been relaxed. It is not known if, when, and how these regulations will change when the COVID-19 emergency orders have expired. This table summarizes what is going on in each state for a variety of providers with respect to pending (P) versus enacted (E) legislation as of January 2021. These are of course subject to change as each state makes progress in deciding what to do. FOR FULL ARTICLE SEE: https://southwesttrc.org/blog/2021/can-we-provide-care-across-state-lines Physicians www.lmlcc.org Nurses www.ncsbn.org/nurse-licensure-compact.htm Physical Therapists www.PTcompact.org Psychologists www.psypact.org Emergency Management Personnel ww.EMScompact.gov Speech-Language Pathologists Audiologists www.aslpcompact.com Occupational Therapists www.OTcompact.org Advanced Practice Nurses www.nscbn.org/aprn-compact.htm < Previous News Next News >

Access to Care, Health Equity Lagging in the US; Is Telehealth Safer Than In-Person Care? Jacqueline LaPointe August 2021 The US ranked last when it came to access to care, health equity, and other measurements of healthcare, while telehealth may prove to be a safer option for patients. Right now, the US may boast the most medals from the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. However, new research shows that the country is lagging in most healthcare metrics, including access to care and health equity. In other news, data suggests that telehealth could be a safer option for patients and small businesses look to self-funding options. US SPENDS THE MOST, BUT COMES OUT LAST The United States ranked last on measurements of health equity, access to care, administrative efficiency, and healthcare outcomes compared to ten other wealthy nations, the Commonwealth Fund recently reported. Yet, the US still spent the most of its gross domestic products on healthcare. Additionally, the US lagged behind comparable countries in terms of healthcare affordability. “U.S. disparities are especially large when looking at financial barriers to accessing medical and dental care, medical bill burdens, difficulty obtaining after-hours care, and use of web portals to facilitate patient engagement,” the report stated. The only measure the US performed favorably on was in the care process domain, which researchers attributed to the success of preventive care and patient engagement. IS TELEHEALTH SAFER THAN THE DOCTOR’S OFFICE? According to a new study, the answer is yes, at least when it comes to flu season. Researchers from the University of Minnesota, Harvard, and athenahealth found that people who went to the doctor’s office after someone infected with the flu had visited were much more likely to get the virus themselves. However, that increase was not seen in people seeking treatment for medical issues like UTIs. The data indicates that telehealth and other means of virtual care can reduce the chance of infection among patients. “Our findings highlight the importance of infection control practices and continued access to telemedicine services, as health care begins to return to pre-pandemic patterns,” Hannah Neprash, an assistant professor at UM’s School of Public Health and one of the study’s authors, said in a news release issued by the university. "In-person outpatient care for influenza may promote nontrivial transmission of these viruses. This may be true for other endemic respiratory illnesses too, including COVID-19, but more research is needed." SMALL BUSINESSES EYE LEVEL, SELF-FUNDING FOR EMPLOYEE COVERAGE A new trend is emerging among small businesses. A recent study from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation shows that small businesses are shifting toward level- and self-funding for healthcare insurance coverage over the individual health insurance marketplace. This shift occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, possibly because employers were less inclined to deny needed coverage to workers. Additionally, health benefits are one of the few ways small businesses can compete with their larger peers in this worker-driven environment. But the trend could change with implementation of the American Rescue Plan’s new individual health insurance marketplace subsidies. CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL USES DATA ANALYTICS TO IDENTIFY CARE GAPS Ann & Robert Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago leveraged data analytics capabilities to flag pediatric care gaps and do something about them during the COVID-19 pandemic. “If you don't have the analytics to show where you're at, you may not understand what's happening out there in the market. We were able to use the analytics to show there's been a big decrease, and then we quickly put together a response plan, including communication, radio ads, other types of communication channels, to respond to that,” Scott Wilkerson, chief integration and business development officer at the children’s hospital, told HealthITAnalytics during an interview. The insights gleaned from the data were key to maintaining appropriate access to care during the pandemic and could be a strategy for balancing in-person and virtual care as communities decide how to stay open and protect residents from rising COVID-19 numbers. FDA EXPANDS EUA FOR INVESTIGATIONAL COVID-19 ANTIBODY COCKTAIL The FDA recently updated the emergency use authorization for Regeneron’s investigational COVID-19 antibody cocktail, REGEN-COV, to include its use in individuals with post-exposure prophylaxis. Providers can now administer the drug monthly to qualifying patients if they are at high risk of severe disease and have not been fully vaccinated or who may not mount an adequate response to vaccination. Now, the drug is the only COVID-19 antibody therapy currently available across the US for both treatment and post-exposure prophylaxis. The expansion of the emergency use authorization was based on results from a Phase 3 clinical trial, which showed that REGEN-COV reduced the risk of symptomatic infection by 81 percent in individuals who were not infected with COVID-19 when they entered the trial. Previous clinical trial data also found that the drug reduced risk of death by 20 percent in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 who had not mounted their own immune response. ANTITRUST AGENCIES MAY TARGET VERTICAL INTEGRATION DEALS The Biden-Harris administration has made consolidation in healthcare a top priority for antitrust agencies and HHS, per a recent executive order. But this doesn’t just mean the colossal deals making headlines (e.g., the recent Beaumont-Spectrum Health merger). Industry experts believe the executive order could mean greater focus on vertical integration deals, such as those between hospitals and physician practices and those between payers and physician groups. “We’re going to see more scrutiny in these areas, particularly with the new vertical merger guidelines the FTC and DOJ issued in 2020. That is certainly top of mind to the FTC and the FTC has substantial experience with hospital-physician consolidation and continues to actively study its effects on competition and quality,” Ken Vorrasi, antitrust litigation partner at Faegre Drinker, told RevCycleIntelligence. Source: https://healthcareexecintelligence.healthitanalytics.com/news/access-to-care-health-equity-lagging-in-the-us-is-telehealth-safer-than-in-person-care < Previous News Next News >

Legislators Throughout the Southwest are Moving Towards Institutionalizing Telehealth Services Kirin Goff, Southwest Telehealth Resource Center July 2021 Legislatures across the southwest have sprung into action to enact bills that permanently expand telehealth services As the COVID-19 pandemic becomes increasingly under control and more states are ending their public health emergency declarations, legislatures across the southwest have sprung into action to enact bills that permanently expand telehealth services. At the forefront of this new legislation is Arizona’s HB 2454 that Governor Doug Ducey signed into law on March 5, 2021 to provide comprehensive amendments to the state's laws governing telehealth. In Arizona and other southwest states’ new telehealth laws, entities are generally prohibited from denying coverage for telehealth services and are required to cover remotely provided services at the same rate as equivalent in-person services. Exceptions to these requirements may be developed by an advisory committee of government officials, practitioners, and other stakeholders, who will determine, among other things, circumstances in which telehealth services are inappropriate. Even in the absence of a rule prohibiting telehealth services, healthcare providers must use good faith in determining whether telehealth services are appropriate, and if so, which communication modalities are appropriate. Communication Modalities Prior to the public health emergency response to the pandemic, audio-only services were generally permissible only if the healthcare provider had an existing relationship with the patient and audio-visual communication was not reasonably available. Voicemail was specifically excluded. Going forward, telehealth services in Arizona may be provided, when appropriate, through interactive audio/video, asynchronous store-and-forward technology (i.e., digitally stored medical imaging, multimedia files, other information that can be reviewed remotely), and remote patient monitoring technology. Legislation in other states throughout the southwest also includes measures that govern the types of communications by which telehealth services can be provided. In many cases, telehealth can be provided by means other than real-time, audio-visual communication. Nevada SB 5, for example, amends an existing definition of telehealth to include audio-only interactions. Utah's SB 161, which was enacted, allows providers to use HIPAA-compliant asynchronous audiovisual technology for certain treatments. Amendments to New Mexico's Cannabis Regulation Act (HB 2, also enacted) provide a patient to be diagnosed as a qualified patient via telemedicine, which includes store-and-forward and remote patient monitoring technologies as options. Collection and Reporting of Telehealth Data to Form Policy Decisions Legislators in Nevada, like those in Arizona, seek to collect and use data on telehealth services to aid in forming policy. Nevada SB 5 requires the state's Department of Health and Human Services to establish (if funding permits) a data dashboard allowing analysis of access to telehealth by different groups and populations. The bill goes further to include behavioral health boards, the Patient Protection Commission, and the Legislative Committee on Health Care to use the dashboard in formulating policy. Another Nevada bill (ACR 5) establishes a legislative committee to address the shortage of behavioral health professionals in the state. This committee will study the provision of behavioral health services through telehealth and consider ways to expand the use of telehealth to provide such services. Expansion of Services Various bills explicitly expand telehealth services in particular fields such as dentistry (Colorado SB 21-139, New Mexico SB 200), audiology and speech pathology (Colorado SB 21-021, New Mexico HB 210), occupational therapy (Colorado HB 21-1279), and dietetics and nutrition (New Mexico HB 147). Other measures are aimed at expanding broadband access:(Nevada AB 388; Colorado HB 21-1109), including efforts specifically directed at underserved communities (Arizona HB 2885, Nevada AB 388), seniors (Colorado SB 21-210, New Mexico SM 6), and children (New Mexico SM 15). In-Person Medical Examination Requirements In-person requirements have long been a contentious topic in the provision of initial telehealth services in certain contexts. For example, Arizona’s HB 2454 prohibits providers from prescribing Schedule II drugs after an audio-only communication with the patient, but generally allows other drugs to be prescribed after audio-only telehealth communications. In another context, Nevada’s SB 266 provides for in-person medical examinations for workers' compensation claims, but only if initial examinations were performed through telehealth services and only if a party requests an in-person examination. Interestingly, some bills seek to relax restrictions. For example, New Mexico’s HB 12 seeks to eliminate a previous requirement that a practitioner could only certify a patient for medical cannabis use if the practitioner had previously examined the patient in-person. Overall, the surge of bills moves us towards institutionalizing telehealth. Importantly, the latest round of legislation also exposes how much more there is to learn about optimizing telehealth and identifying best practices as uptake continues to increase across the southwest. New Mexico HB 147: https://track.govhawk.com/public/bills/1414538 New Mexico SM 6: https://track.govhawk.com/public/bills/1425880 New Mexico SM 15: https://track.govhawk.com/public/bills/1443803 New Mexico’s HB 12: https://track.govhawk.com/public/bills/1428580 Source: https://southwesttrc.org/blog/2021/legislators-throughout-southwest-are-moving-towards-institutionalizing-telehealth < Previous News Next News >

Amazon Healthcare Building a National Telehealth Business Dr. Maheu, Telehealt.org January 2021 Amazon Care recently announced that it will expand nationally to all Amazon workers and other interested companies across the country in the summer of 2021. Amazon, the $1.6 trillion shipping giant, is launching a new service to provide essential medical services through Amazon Healthcare as a national telehealth business. Amazon Care uses an app that allows consumers to connect with doctors, nurse practitioners, and nurses virtually, 24 hours a day, via in-app chat or video. Initially launched and tested with Washington-based employees, Amazon Care recently announced that it will expand nationally to all Amazon workers and other interested companies across the country in the summer of 2021. “Making this available to other employers is a big step,” Amazon Care Director Kristen Helton said. “It’s an opportunity for other forward-thinking employers to offer a service that helps bring high-quality care, convenience and peace of mind.” Notice the last three descriptors: “high-quality care, convenience and peace of mind.” From the perspective of many healthcare providers, healthcare in the US has been lacking in each of these three areas. For employers registering for the service, which has partnered with Care Medical, employees near their headquarters will get online and in-person doctor visits. Employees elsewhere will get just the virtual components. Through Care Medical, Amazon Care currently offers an app to connect employees to a medical professional for a video consultation. It also offers follow-up care in the home for patients. The goal is to lower healthcare costs internally for Amazon and externally for some of the world’s most influential companies, using telehealth to meet people on their terms, with good care, wherever they are. Amazon’s Multi-Layered Business Strategy Anyone watching Amazon over the last year will be well acquainted with its accelerating moves to provide the early inklings of healthcare. Early Amazon Healthcare efforts were announced by Telehealth.org’s Telehealth News on 6/4/2020. In that article, it was reported that Amazon Health announced a pilot program offering virtual medical services to employees and their families. Amazon then expanded the presence of Alexa voice assistant, announcing that it was making it possible for voice assistant developers to offer HIPAA-compliant services for the Alexa platform. Amazon Pharmacy, a drug-delivering business in 48 states with steep discounts for Prime members was also released in November of 2020. Most recently Amazon has launched another offering called Amazon HealthLake, a HIPAA-compliant service that allows healthcare providers, health insurance companies, and pharmaceutical companies to store, transform, and analyze health data at a petabyte scale. As described on the Amazon HealthLake website: Amazon HealthLake removes the heavy lifting of organizing, indexing, and structuring patient information to provide a complete view of the health of individual patients and entire patient populations in a secure, compliant, and auditable manner. Using the HealthLake APIs, healthcare organizations can easily copy health data in the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) industry standard format from on-premises systems to a secure data lake in the cloud. HealthLake transforms unstructured data using specialized machine learning models, like natural language processing, to automatically extract meaningful medical information from the data and provides powerful query and search capabilities. Organizations can use advanced analytics and ML models, such as Amazon QuickSight and Amazon SageMaker to analyze and understand relationships, identify trends, and make predictions from the newly normalized and structured data. From early detection of disease to population health trends, organizations can use Amazon HealthLake to conduct clinical data analysis powered by machine learning to improve care and reduce costs. < Previous News Next News >