Recent DOJ Fraud Charges Include Few Details and Links to Telehealth Center for Connected Health Policy June 2021 The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced criminal charges against a variety of individuals related to various alleged COVID-19 fraud schemes. One of the kickback schemes does appear to include a telehealth element. The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced criminal charges against a variety of individuals related to various alleged COVID-19 fraud schemes. Most of the new cases appear to be related to fraudulent testing claims and kickback schemes, although one of the kickback schemes does appear to include a telehealth element. According to the DOJ press release, two Florida men – a consultant as well as a Texas laboratory owner – allegedly exploited temporary telehealth waivers by offering providers access to Medicare beneficiaries for whom they could bill consultations. In return, the providers referred the patients to that laboratory for potentially unnecessary cancer and cardiovascular genetic testing. Despite potentially misleading headlines, most charges appear to only be against executives and additional details directly tying the fraud to telehealth and the correspondence, billing, and waivers in question have yet to be released. As one updated mHealth Intelligence article later noted, “the charges try to link fraud cases to telehealth coverage, but are more closely aligned with telefraud.” For more information read the full DOJ press release - https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/doj-announces-coordinated-law-enforcement-action-combat-health-care-fraud-related-covid-19. < Previous News Next News >

Emergency telemedicine poised to grow in pandemic’s new phase Tanya Albert Henry, Contributing News Writer May 23, 2022 Emergency medicine is likely not the first specialty that comes to mind when thinking about the clinical areas that can benefit greatly from telehealth. But this digitally enabled mode of health care delivery that took off at the pandemic’s onset was helping in the emergency medicine setting before COVID-19 and will only continue to grow. An AMA Telehealth Immersion Program event co-hosted with the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) provided an overview of the innovative ways telemedicine is being used in emergency settings and discussed how telehealth can continue to help physicians provide better care for patients. Emergency medicine doesn’t take place in one spot in the hospital and emergency physicians are trained to take care of emerging acute care situations in any setting, said Aditi U. Joshi, MD, chair of ACEP’s telehealth section. That includes the kind of asynchronous care that can be part of telehealth. Triage involves determining which kind of care presenting patients require. “Can they stay at home, do they need to go to an urgent care, primary care, or do they need to come into the emergency department?” she said. “We are uniquely skilled in that.” Telestroke was another form of telehealth in use before the COVID-19 pandemic, and telehealth was in use at freestanding emergency departments and urgent care centers. And here are a few ways that virtual care is poised to continue to grow: Triage. This can include, for example, talking to the emergency medical services unit on the way to the hospital, long-term acute care (LTAC) triage, and telemedicine screening exams. Direct, acute unscheduled care. For example, virtual urgent care, ED consults to help with things such as transfer stabilization treatment advice, LTAC, correctional medicine, or skilled nursing facility consults. Virtual (out of ED) observation. For example, post-ED follow-up visits, remote home monitoring, and hospital at home. The AMA helps guide physicians, practices and health systems in optimizing and sustaining telehealth at their organizations through the AMA Telehealth Immersion Program. The program builds on The Telehealth Initiative and is part of the AMA STEPS Forward® Innovation Academy, which enables physicians to learn from peers and experts and discover ways to implement time-saving practice innovation strategies. Benefits in the rural setting Over the past decade, 120 U.S. hospitals closed and 31 states have seen at least one rural hospital among those closures. With 20% of the population living and working in a rural area where hospitals often have limited staff, wait times for EDs in the rural hospitals are higher than the national average that is already at 24 minutes—and that is to see a nonphysician such as a nurse practitioner or physician assistant. It’s not uncommon for a physician to have to be called to come in from home at night because there are not enough doctors to staff the hospital 24/7. Emergency physician Kelly Rhone, MD, interim chief medical officer and vice president of innovation and outreach at Avel eCare, said their virtual health system—started in 1993—works with rural hospitals across the country to provide emergency care. They are hard-wired into EDs where health professionals with the push of a button can connect to their virtual emergency department, staffed with emergency physicians and nurses, to direct those who have their hands on the patients who may be in cardiac arrest, suffering from a stroke or facing other life-threatening injuries. “We are making a difference in rural health and bringing cutting-edge emergency medicine to the bedside,” Dr. Rhone said. Emergency telehealth in big cities too Telemedicine in the ED setting has benefits in large urban areas such as Los Angeles, too. Moshen Saidinejad, MD, directs pediatric emergency medicine at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, and said many children go to EDs that aren’t set up for pediatric patients and telemedicine allows those trained in pediatric emergency medicine to consult with those treating a child. The benefits of expanded telemedicine are clear. Join physicians who are advocating to permanently expand virtual care coverage. For more information see full article: https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/digital/emergency-telemedicine-poised-grow-pandemic-s-new-phase?smclient=f760e669-8538-11ec-83c8-18cf24ce389f&utm_source=salesmanago&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=default < Previous News Next News >

NMTHA Webinars Available on Website New Mexico Telehealth Alliance Dec. 14, 2021 Did you miss one of our webinars this year? Did you know you can access them on the NMTHA website and view them at your leisure? Topics include HIPAA compliance, expanding telemed services, billing and coding and more. Did you miss one of our webinars this year? Did you know you can access them on the NMTHA website and view them at your leisure? Topics include HIPAA compliance, expanding telemed services, billing and coding and more. < Previous News Next News >

Teledentistry – Lights. Camera. Open Wide. By Trudy Bearden April 7, 2021 The American Dental Association (ADA) Policy on Teledentistry notes that services delivered via teledentistry must be consistent with how they would be delivered in-person. Well… not quite; but it may not be what you think. I’m not here to make the case about the importance of good oral health, the impacts of poor oral health on overall health and chronic disease, the potential to lower health care costs and our countless opportunities to integrate oral health into health care services. Rather I ask that you join me to learn just a bit more about what teledentistry is and how it can be used to expand access, provide education and elevate team-based care. Teledentistry. The American Dental Association (ADA) Policy on Teledentistry notes that services delivered via teledentistry must be consistent with how they would be delivered in-person. According to the ADA, teledentistry includes patient care and patient education delivery using (but not limited to) four modalities: Synchronous (live video) – use of audio and video for real-time communication Asynchronous (store and forward) – secure electronic transmission of radiographs, photos, video, digital impressions or photomicrographs, etc. to evaluate, render an opinion or service or develop a treatment plan Remote physiologic monitoring – electronic transmission of physiologic data (e.g., weight, oxygen saturation, blood glucose levels) Mobile health (mHealth) – sharing of education and/or information by mobile communications or use of apps (e.g., reminds or monitors oral hygiene activities) Store and forward. Dental hygienists can assess the mouths of patients, chart areas of concern, decay or periodontal disease, take high-resolution photographs and x-rays and transmit that information to a dentist who can review the materials and develop a treatment plan for a patient. Expand access. In rural areas with shortages of dentists, primary care clinics can “bring” a dentist or other oral health specialist into the exam room by synchronous (live video) communication to assess and discuss a dental issue and subsequent treatment plan for a patient. This is a far superior option than just prescribing antibiotics and pain medications, which may end with the patient in the emergency department. Education. Using a synchronous modality, there are ample opportunities for providing oral health education to patients and families, those in dentistry, those in the medical field, teams considering oral health integration and more. While there are several teledentistry modalities available, the following are the high leverage applications: Using store and forward technology for dental hygienists and others on dental and medical care teams Including dentists and other oral health and dental specialists (e.g., orthodontist) to join primary care office visits Using synchronous and asynchronous (e.g., secure messaging/email) options for provider-to-provider consults Providing synchronous and broad oral health education What’s in it for us and ours? How do we harness teledentistry to improve oral health? As an individual, it’s reasonable to ask your dentist what they are doing or are planning to do to implement or expand teledentistry to know whether there are additional options for you. If delivering health care services to patients, whether in the outpatient, inpatient, specialist, long-term service supports or elsewhere, we should: Know what the teledentistry options are in our area, especially if we are in a rural area with a shortage of dentists Ensure that all patients have a dental home and are receiving preventive and curative dental services – by teledentistry if necessary and available to them Consider an oral health education program that is delivered virtually or remotely and/or includes mHealth or app-based options If you are particularly passionate about the potential of teledentistry, know the barriers in your state and area and find ways to overcome those barriers, which include parity of coverage, parity of payment, and statutes governing teledentistry in your state. Checking this interactive map from the Center for Connected Health Policy is a good starting place. Adequate and access to bandwidth and provider, patient and family buy-in can be significant factors as well. Either way – let’s get our teeth into teledentistry and do what we can to leverage the full range of options to help individuals optimize their oral health. Interactive map: https://www.cchpca.org/ < Previous News Next News >

Now is the time for doctors to shape what’s next on telehealth Tanya Albert Henry, Contributing News Writer, American Medical Assoc. ​ More than a year and a half into this pandemic, medicine finds itself with a unique opportunity: A chance to rethink and overhaul the way care is delivered. More than a year and a half into this pandemic, medicine finds itself with a unique opportunity: A chance to rethink and overhaul the way care is delivered. Telehealth, which a minority of patients and physicians used prior to COVID-19’s emergence, is now a household word. And survey after survey shows that patients like the convenience, believe they are getting quality care and still feel connected to their physicians. Most physicians, too, have found telehealth to be a great way to connect with patients when appropriate. “There is no question at this point in time, when you think back on the past 18 months, it’s our opportunity to change completely how we deliver care,” according to Joseph C. Kvedar, MD, professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School and the American Telemedicine Association’s board chair. Dr. Kvedar made that point during a virtual gathering as part of the AMA Telehealth Immersion Program. The boot camp event featured experts and stakeholders from around the country, who discussed the potential for long-term telehealth programs, raised the questions that need to be considered as telemedicine evolves, and examined the challenges that physicians and patients face moving forward. “I would urge you not to think of virtual video visits as the sky or the ceiling or the vision, but as the floor and the beginning, and the first step into what I would call a real hybrid world with digital-first, with digital tools for our patients where patients instinctively turn to a digital device when they need health care and go from there,” Dr. Kvedar said. The boot camp also included a panel discussion about health-at-home models and strategies, as well as breakout sessions on creating telehealth value in obstetrics and gynecology, and renal medicine. The Telehealth Immersion Program is part of the AMA STEPS Forward™ Innovation Academy , which enables physicians to learn from peers and experts and discover ways to implement time-saving practice innovation strategies. Many questions to answer Data may show that the percentage of telehealth visits as a whole are down compared with the beginning of the pandemic, but Dr. Kvedar said there’s another story to be told. Data from one large payer shows that telehealth is shifting from local physicians and health care organizations to national care providers. In April 2020, 96% of all telehealth claims were local, while national providers accounted for just 4%. One year later, the share of national-provider claims rose to 11%. One big question going forward, he asked, is who is going to deliver telehealth services? “Do we want our own doctors to be providing these telehealth services or do we want to go through a third party,” said Dr. Kvedar, co-chair of the AMA Digital Medicine Payment Advisory Group. “The good news is you will have access either way. But … we have to ponder how we want that to go, and I think we have a role to play in making those decisions or at least in influencing them.” Among the other questions that need to be answered going forward: How do you plan while facing payment uncertainty? What will it cost a practice to offer telehealth and what will make the most financial sense for each practice? How do you rethink calculations of overhead? What are the workforce implications? For example, what new roles will be needed to accommodate telehealth properly? How do you define when it will be best to see a patient via telehealth versus coming into the office? Advocate, advocate, advocate Dr. Kvedar asked the boot-camp attendees to send their elected officials a letter describing what has worked in telemedicine and what is needed. He also recommended talking to your human resource professional and health plan contact to let them know what you and your patients need to create a health system that works best. The benefits of expanded telemedicine are clear. Join physicians who are advocating to permanently expand virtual care coverage. https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/digital/now-time-doctors-shape-what-s-next-telehealth?smclient=9a5368e1-1650-11ec-83c8-18cf24ce389f&utm_source=salesmanago&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=default < Previous News Next News >

Health Care Disparities and Access to Video Visits Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from a Patient Survey in Primary Care Emily C. Webber, Brock D. McMillen, and Deanna R. Willis May 11, 2022 Abstract Background:In 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reimbursement structure was relaxed to aid in the rapid adoption nationally of telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to limited access to internet service, cellular phone data, and appropriate devices, many patients may be excluded from telemedicine services. Methods:In this study, we present the findings of a survey of patients at an urban primary care clinic regarding their access to the tools needed for telemedicine before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients provided information about their access to internet services, phone and data plans, and their perceived access to and interest in telemedicine. The survey was conducted in 2019 and then again in September of 2020 after expansion of telemedicine services. Results:In 2019, 168 patients were surveyed; and in 2020, 99 patients participated. In both surveys, 30% of respondents had limited phone data, no data, or no phone at all. In 2019, the patient responses showed a statistically significant difference in phone plan types between patients with different insurance plans (p < 0.10), with a higher proportion (39%) of patients with Medicaid or Medicaid waiver having a prepaid phone or no phone at all compared with patients with commercial insurance (26%). The overall awareness rate increased from 17% to 43% in the 2020 survey. Conclusions:This survey illustrated that not all patients had access to devices, cellular data, and internet service, which are all needed to conduct telemedicine. In this survey, patients with Medicaid or Medicaid waiver insurance were less likely to have these tools than those with a commercial payor. Finally, patients' access to these telemedicine tools correlated with their interest in using telemedicine visits. Providing equitable telemedicine care requires attention to and mitigation strategies for these gaps in access. Introduction Telemedicine and virtual care expanded rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. Fueled by necessity among health care providers and systems to deliver patient care, adoption was also driven by removal of barriers and expanded Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reimbursement models. In March 2020, CMS authorized Medicare beneficiaries to receive telehealth at any location, including their homes.1 Subsequent waivers increased the scope of Medicare telehealth services, including a wider array of practitioners. Finally, the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights announced that it would waive penalties for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) violations against health care providers who were using everyday communication technologies to provide telehealth services.2 These combined changes resulted in millions of additional telehealth visits. CMS data from March and June of 2020 showed an increase from 13,000 beneficiaries using telehealth before the public health emergency to 1.7 million in the last week of April 2020.3 These CMS expansions were made permanent in January 2021.4 Despite these expansions, not all patients are positioned to take advantage of the adoption of telemedicine and virtual care. The digital divide or lack of access to reliable high-speed internet is a well-described gap, made worse in 2020, as many entities turned to virtual solutions to work, study, and conduct business as usual. Nearly 42 million people in the United States may not have the ability to purchase broadband internet as of February 2020,5 disproportionately impacting communities of color as well as low socioeconomic status.6 Finally, according to BroadbandNow, an estimated 1.35 million (20%) residents in Indiana are unserved by broadband internet providers at their home address.7 At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, precautions such as stay-at-home orders and business, municipal, and school shutdowns eliminated public options for internet access. Addressing these gaps is a critical step in preventing worsening inequities in access to care.8 In this study, we surveyed patients in an urban primary care clinic to determine their access to internet and devices, readiness, and barriers to utilizing telemedicine and virtual health care. Methods In August 2019, patients from a primary care clinic located in central Indianapolis, Indiana, participated in a 10-question quality improvement survey. The Institutional Review Board reviewed and determined the survey to be exempt. Each patient arriving at the clinic over a 2-day period was given the chance to participate. The paper survey included questions about home internet and device access, phone plan and phone data adequacy, and interest in virtual visits (see Supplementary Data for full survey). The patient's insurance coverage information was captured on the paper survey form by the staff before handing the form to the patient. The results were assessed using chi-square tests to determine differences between payor groups. A linear regression model was utilized to analyze the association of phone plan data adequacy with interest in video visits. Following the results of the first survey, efforts to improve adoption of virtual visits were undertaken, including office signage promoting virtual visits, offering a virtual visit follow-up at checkout, visual cues to prompt providers to schedule virtual follow-ups, and scripting for appointment schedulers to include offering virtual visits at the time of scheduling. In September 2020, the same quality improvement survey was repeated from the same clinic during an active time period of COVID-19 to see if additional quality improvement efforts were warranted. One additional question was added to the 2020 survey: “How has your ability to do a video visit changed since the onset of COVID-19?” The results were assessed using chi-square tests between payor groups. A linear regression model was utilized to analyze the association of phone plan data adequacy with interest in video visits. Scheduled appointments were tracked weekly by type and audited for completion throughout the study period. Video visits that could not be completed using video were converted to telephone visits and counted as telephone visits. For FULL article: https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/tmj.2021.0126 Published Online:11 May 2022https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2021.0126 < Previous News Next News >

Advances in telemedicine are on the way in 2022 Bill Siwicki Dec. 20, 2021 A physician expert in virtual care talks technological advances, reimbursement legislation and the continued evolution of remote patient monitoring. 2020 and 2021 saw the mainstreaming of telehealth and the rise of remote patient monitoring. These changes to the healthcare landscape were helped partly by requirements of the COVID-19 pandemic and partly by the subsequent loosening of telemedicine reimbursement and licensure regulations by the government. But what's to happen in 2022? Will the government and commercial payers continue to reimburse for telemedicine? Will new virtual-care legislation pass? Will there be technological advances that push the care paradigm further forward? And what of the future of remote patient monitoring? Healthcare IT News sat down with Dr. Ian Tong, chief medical officer at Included Health, a telehealth technology and services company, to get his read on these questions and his predictions for telehealth in 2022 and beyond. Q. What do you see in the realm of technological advances in telemedicine in 2022? A. While 2021 saw many healthcare technology mergers and acquisitions in response to the pandemic, and growing virtual-care adoption among payers, providers and consumers, much of the technology of these combined entities remains fractured. Though promoted as one offering, consumers still are having to navigate two or more platforms and work to connect the dots themselves. The technology needs to become invisible – so good that you don't even realize it's there. The technology for virtual-care appointments also will continue to advance beyond 1:1 doctor-patient video conferencing. For example, in response to the rising behavioral health provider shortage, we can expect to see technology that can enable group sessions with multiple patients receiving counsel and support at once. Whether it's behavioral, acute or chronic care, the most important role that technology will play is enabling all physicians to have the same window into a patient's medical history and care plan so they can provide integrated, longitudinal care. The technology is what will enable this industry to realize the full potential of virtual care beyond transactional, one-time interactions. Q. All the temporary reimbursement moves by government and payers for the sake of the pandemic really pushed telehealth into the mainstream. What do you foresee happening with reimbursement for virtual care in 2022? Will it become permanent? Will it be expanded? A. With usage rates 38 times higher than pre-pandemic, and the inarguable value for the people who need it most – seniors and the immunocompromised who can't afford in-person exposure – I believe the government will and should expand virtual-care access. Pre-pandemic virtual care was used for urgent, low-complexity issues – cough, cold, rashes. But today, the real value is for integrated chronic-disease management or ongoing behavioral-health therapy, where people need not be burdened by the constant travel in and out of doctors' offices. The more care that shifts to virtual, the less burden of disease the patients will have, which will lead to better outcomes. This is an opportunity that should be afforded to everyone, especially our most vulnerable and historically underserved communities. Q. Remote patient monitoring is a form of telehealth that is of growing interest to healthcare provider organizations. What do you see happening with RPM in 2022? A. Adoption of remote patient monitoring devices continues to rise, and we don't see it slowing down any time soon. Today, one third of consumers are more likely to choose a provider that allows them to share data from a connected health device, which only promotes more positive outcomes. The more real-time data that we can collect in the comfort of people's homes, the more personalized, data-driven virtual care we can provide. However, to really launch adoption in this sector, the costs of these devices need to come down. As costs come down, health plans can more easily find an ROI [return on investment] to subsidize the use of these devices. https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/advances-telemedicine-are-way-2022 < Previous News Next News >

Supreme Court Limits Medication Abortion via Telehealth Center for Connected Health Policy April 2021 Last month the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rule that requires in-person visits for patients seeking medication abortion, eliminating patient access to the abortion pill mifepristone via telehealth. Last month the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rule that requires in-person visits for patients seeking medication abortion, eliminating patient access to the abortion pill mifepristone via telehealth. Last summer, a federal district court decision suspended the FDA rule during the pandemic, allowing providers to mail the pill to patients after a telehealth visit. While a recent study showed no difference in safety and efficacy, the ruling reignited political controversy around the subject of abortion and medication abortion in particular, leading the Trump Administration to request the reversal. The lower court ruled that the in-person requirement “imposed a ‘substantial obstacle’ to abortion care that is likely unconstitutional” however, in his concurrence, Chief Justice John Roberts stated that the issue was not related to constitutionality, but whether the lower court had the authority to remove the restriction due to their own determinations related to the risks of COVID-19, when they should defer to entities with the appropriate “background, competence, and expertise to assess public health.” Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Elena Kagan dissented the decision, stating that it places patients at risk, particularly minority and low-income populations, and puts “an unnecessary and undue burden on their right to abortion.” Advocacy groups, providers, and policymakers are now requesting that the Biden Administration remove the previous Administration’s policy and FDA restriction. Meanwhile, even if the federal in-person requirement is removed, 19 states have their own in-person requirements, which will continue to prohibit the ability to provide medication abortion via telehealth. < Previous News Next News >

Studies Show How Telehealth Can Increase Equitable Access to Care Center for Connected Health Policy May 24, 2022 Focus on the relationship between telehealth and disparities in access to care continues to result in new research examining pandemic era data and the use of telehealth among disadvantaged populations. While policymakers and studies often try to put findings into two groups, whether telehealth increases or decreases inequities, recent research shows that the study framework used and considerations made may impact outcomes more so than telehealth itself. For instance, this month a new study published in Health Affairs found that as a result of emergency federal telemedicine coverage expansions access increased for all Medicare populations, including those in the most disadvantaged areas. The study was framed to examine the impact of expanded telehealth coverage policies on different populations, rather than looking at access generally where inequities have unfortunately always existed. Comparing pre-COVID temporary waiver data with post-waiver implementation data, the authors discovered that the highest odds of utilization were among those in disadvantaged and metropolitan areas. As reported in a Managed Healthcare Executive article on the study, the Johns Hopkins researchers concluded that the results suggest that increased Medicare telemedicine coverage policies improve access to underserved populations without worsening disparities. An additional study just published in Telemedicine Journal and e-Health and covered in a healthleaders article showed that a virtual care program at Penn Medicine is reducing barriers to access specifically for Black patients and eliminating historic disparities. The authors looked at approximately one million appointments per year in both 2019 and 2020 for Philadelphia area patients and found that Black patients used telehealth more than non-Black patients and that appointment completion gaps between Black and non-Black patients closed. Also recently released, the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) produced a white paper titled The Future of Telehealth Roundtable: The Potential Impact of Emerging Technologies on Health Equity, which focuses on how to ensure telehealth increases equitable access to care. Following up on its previous pandemic telehealth work, in late 2021 NCQA pulled together a multidisciplinary panel of equity and technology experts for a discussion on equitable access and virtual health care delivery. Reviewing hypothetical case studies and responding to various questions, participants highlighted potential challenges and identified three primary ways to ensure equitable access in telehealth delivery: Tailoring Telehealth Use and Access to Individual Preferences and Needs Addressing Regulatory, Policy and Infrastructure Barriers to Fair Telehealth Access Leveraging Telehealth and Digital Technologies to Promote Equitable Care Delivery The white paper suggests the need to prioritize language and cultural humility, address digital literacy, and optimize telehealth for people with disabilities. In addition, in terms of barriers, the authors stress the need to address broadband infrastructure and licensure limitations, while also updating laws and regulations that restrict telehealth use, including payment policies. Another Health Affairs article published this month, Policy Considerations to Ensure Telemedicine Equity, also looked at various factors that must be taken into account to allow telehealth to increase equitable access to care. The author clarifies that equity is a matter beyond telehealth and is related to patient-level barriers that include family, community, and general health care delivery level factors, such as issues related to the digital divide. In addition, the article cautions against policies focusing on increased utilization concerns, stating that increased use may mean that patients are finally attaining the care they need, in addition to the fact that increased access may reduce overall health care costs. Therefore, policies seeking to reduce reimbursement or limit audio-only modalities to address utilization and cost concerns may instead primarily reduce clinicians’ willingness to offer telehealth and modalities that mitigate access barriers for historically excluded groups. The article also highlights how varying payer policies, such as those that allow reimbursement for telehealth visits with new patients versus those that do not, creates inequities, and that differing medical licensing and/or prescribing regulations by state can create inequitable access issues on top of differing coverage policies. These policy considerations are key to ensuring telemedicine mitigates inequities rather than exacerbates them. While the pandemic generally has highlighted and exacerbated existing inequities, it has also provided the information necessary to show telehealth’s ability to address disparities and increase equitable access to care. It is important that policymakers take such findings and opportunities from studies on telehealth equity into account when looking to potentially make pandemic policies permanent in order to properly preserve telehealth’s positive impacts. It is also important that the framework used in the study be placed in context to help explain why some research speaks to telehealth disparities, or health care disparities, versus how telehealth is decreasing health care disparities. As shown in the aforementioned studies and articles, the difference in framing showcases that telehealth in and of itself does not create or exacerbate disparities, rather it is a tool that can be utilized to decrease disparities in access to care. The tool has to be allowed to be effective, however, and that is where the role of public policy comes in. Policies must support broadband and telehealth infrastructure and promote the use of technology to deliver care equal to the delivery of in-person care. For instance, Medicaid policies that limit when telehealth can be used and/or certain allowable modalities can create inequities in comparison to more expansive commercial policies that guarantee better telehealth access to non-Medicaid patients. Therefore, policymakers must recognize that regulatory restrictions around telehealth cannot prevent already existing general access disparities, rather it is often the regulatory restrictions around telehealth that lead to exacerbating disparities. It becomes vital that research be put into context so that subsequent policies are implemented that allow telehealth to reach its full potential to reduce disparities. For full article: https://mailchi.mp/cchpca/the-latest-telehealth-research-studies-show-how-telehealth-can-increase-equitable-access-to-care < Previous News Next News >

Joint Commission Updates Telemedicine Accreditation Rules Center for Connected Health Policy April 2021 Before a practitioner may provide services in a hospital, he or she must have their qualifications evaluated and verified. According to an article in The National Law Review, The Joint Commission recently announced slightly revised ‘credentialing by proxy rules’. Before a practitioner may provide services in a hospital, he or she must have their qualifications evaluated and verified. This process, known as credentialing, ensures an individual possesses the necessary qualifications to provide medical services to patients. ‘Credentialing by proxy’ allows a hospital receiving services to accept the distant site hospital’s credentialing and privileging decisions. Certain criteria must be met in order for a hospital to qualify to utilize credentialing by proxy. Previously, this included requiring both the originating site hospital and distant site hospital to be accredited with the Joint Commission. The new change allows the distant site telemedicine entity to be accredited with The Joint Commission or, alternatively, enrolled in the Medicare program. The affected standard is MS.13.01.01, EP 1, and is reflected in the Joint Commission’s 2021 update to their Comprehensive Accreditation Manuals. Comprehensive Accreditation Manuals: https://store.jcrinc.com/2021-comprehensive-accreditation-manuals/ < Previous News Next News >

River Valley Counseling Center boosts productivity and experience with telehealth Bill Siwicki June 01, 2022 From putting band-aids on decades-old computers to conducting high-quality telemedicine visits, the mental health organization is making its clinicians and patients happy. River Valley counseling Center's Holyoke Clinic in Holyoke, Massachusetts, always was trying to make ends meet with its technology. THE PROBLEM Its efforts to revamp and improve its technology were merely trial and error. Staff were putting band-aids on their technologies, struggling to figure out what the root of the issues were when disruptions would occur. Was it the computer itself? Network connectivity? A glitch in the signal? To put the extent of the issues in perspective, some hardware was more than a decade old; it could easily take clinicians five minutes just to reach the login screen. "When we thought one thing was addressed, another hurdle would pop up," recalled Chassity Crowell-Miller, LICSW, a clinical social worker at the clinic. "This element of touch and go was particularly challenging for mental healthcare, in which providers may be helping with sensitive, traumatic issues and were unnecessarily disrupted and inhibited by the outdated technology. "Overall, our clinicians' ability to help, as well as our patients' treatment and overall experiences, were negatively impacted," she added. It's important to note that the organization's Holyoke Clinic tends to an underserved population, with many patients being of low socioeconomic status. Across the community, there are high poverty, school dropout, substance abuse and violence rates. "For providers in our community and beyond, the past two years have been like nothing they have ever seen in the field," Crowell-Miller observed. "At the onset of COVID, while many organizations and communities were able to transition seamlessly to virtual learning and working in order to continue their work, River Valley counseling Center's Holyoke Clinic was not set up for this abrupt move to technology. "While telehealth has improved access to many outpatient services, marginalized patients – rural, poor, older and minority patients – may not have benefited equally from telehealth's expansion," she continued. "With all this in mind, River Valley counseling Center needed to receive the equipment, infrastructure and IT counsel necessary to support its people in our Holyoke location – both in person and via telehealth." PROPOSAL The cost of outdated technology often is not discussed, but for providers to do their jobs effectively, sound technology infrastructure is a table-stakes requirement, said Stephen Moss, senior vice president and general manager, connected workforce, at Insight, a health IT and infrastructure company. "The last two years have forced health providers to play IT catchup and significantly accelerate digital transformation," he said. "For many like River Valley counseling Center, it calls for starting with the basics. "They are navigating the impact of legacy infrastructure that is sometimes decades old, not to mention extremely outdated devices that magnify the frustration of resources that should make their work easier actually impeding their ability to care for patients," he continued. River Valley's challenges stood out to Insight. "To help, we focused on how to improve productivity and the client experience, particularly to address the lag and frozen sessions during telehealth consultations," Moss explained. "A simple upgrade to 50 new Intel-powered desktops and laptops has made daily multitasking an afterthought rather than a source of frustration for clinic staff. "To be able to hold a telehealth session without hang-ups not only allows River Valley's medical providers to more effectively address their clients' needs, by eliminating disruptions, they're gaining credibility and the ability to treat more people on a daily basis," he added. The Insight and Intel teams took a hands-on approach to provide and implement the right technology, at the right price, said Jason Kimrey, vice president, U.S. channel and partner programs, at Intel. "The strategy was informed by the mindset that having the best technology was the most effective way to maximize productivity for River Valley and its counselors," he said. "To help guide the process, we collaborated and leveraged our partner ecosystem to understand the unique challenges and pain points for the organization." MARKETPLACE There are many vendors of telemedicine technology and services on the health IT market today. Healthcare IT News published a special report highlighting many of these vendors with detailed descriptions of their products. Click here to read the special report. MEETING THE CHALLENGE With River Valley's considerations in mind, Intel prioritized implementing more modernized devices and hardware that provided an opportunity to update core infrastructures, Kimrey said. Intel upgraded network switches, physical hard drives, chips and more to accommodate for the increased bandwidth necessary for telehealth usage, he added. "As a team, Insight's counsel helped combine and implement all of this," Moss explained. "Going from barely conducting any services remotely before the pandemic to now doing most of their work via telehealth is a monumental culture change. Coping with new technology shouldn't be a burden on caregivers; it needs to be an intuitive, simplified experience. "When we work with organizations like River Valley, we start with understanding what their unique challenges are, who is impacted and what they need to accomplish in their daily work," he continued. "Then we figure out the right technology based on individual caregiver personas and their needs to optimize their user experience, productivity and ability to help their clients." Insight handles rapid provisioning, configuration and deployment for virtual desktop environments so new devices are ready to go out of the box with minimal setup and networking connection required by the organization's IT team or employees, he added. "Insight also has the ability to provide virtual IT support for day-to-day management of the health of the devices, which frees up organizations with limited internal IT resources, such as River Valley counseling Center, to focus on more meaningful transformative projects," Moss said. "For River Valley, they've gained the ability to quickly provide new devices to their staff that are ready to go with the applications they need," he added. "Their care providers now can work just as effectively from home or at the clinic." RESULTS Technology is critical to making peoples' lives better, and River Valley has really felt that, Crowell-Miller stated. Thus far, highlights for River Valley, she reported, have included: Improved client and clinician experience. There have been tangible benefits for the client experience – both internally and externally. The provider organization has increased its telehealth services from 5% pre-pandemic to 95% during the height of the pandemic, while removing common barriers like lag time and income lost from prior no-show rates. Now, because of the ability to adapt, adjust and shift to telehealth, when necessary, clinicians can meet the patients where they're at. Increased productivity. The technology addressed a loss of productivity and slowness for River Valley counseling Center, which impacted the quality of services it was able to provide. Even just logging onto computers is much faster and happens within seconds. Specifically, the organization has dramatically improved productivity by up to an estimated 25% for clinicians with minimal access to technology at home, making it easier to use the office for virtual or in-person visits when necessary. Providing community resources. River Valley counseling Center now is able to get a better foothold to help and serve the community. This technology isn't just transactional from a healthcare provider standpoint; having this infrastructure in place is mutually beneficial for the clinicians and the patients in ways beyond traditional appointments and hosting telehealth sessions. This technology has helped River Valley counseling Center put the resources in the hands of clients. River Valley works on these computers while seeing a patient in person, and staff are able to help provide resources like databases, printed materials and more for the patients. ADVICE FOR OTHERS "Because every organization is different, it's really important to ensure you're working with a technology partner that understands not only the healthcare sector and how technology plays a vital role in patient care, but also the unique challenges and needs of your operations, clinicians, patients and the community you serve," said Crowell-Miller. Twitter: @SiwickiHealthIT Email the writer: bsiwicki@himss.org Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication. See original article: https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/river-valley-counseling-center-boosts-productivity-and-experience-telehealth < Previous News Next News >

Configuring Virtual Care to Boost Pediatric Healthcare Quality, Access eVisit December 12, 2022 Virtual care can be a boon for pediatric patients and providers alike, but the key to a successful program lies in selecting and implementing the right technology. The rise in virtual care use has spurred greater access to healthcare, enabling providers to meet patients where they are. In the case of healthcare's youngest consumers, virtual care has not only helped mitigate barriers to care but also enhanced care delivery. Pediatric patients, like their adult counterparts, used virtual care in droves during the COVID-19 pandemic. One 2021 survey shows that one in five parents said their child had a virtual visit in the past year. Further, virtual care gained popularity among parents. Another survey showed that more than 60 percent of parents said they would want to continue using virtual modalities for their child's care after the pandemic, including almost 30 percent who hadn't used it previously. As a result, healthcare providers are increasingly implementing virtual care services for their pediatric populations. But selecting the right technology, and streamlining its implementation, are essential to ensuring the success of virtual pediatric care programs. BENEFITS OF PEDIATRIC VIRTUAL CARE PROGRAMS Virtual care offers pediatric patients and their providers a myriad of benefits, including expanded access to care. Many pediatric specialists treat patients across multiple states with facilities managing large patient populations. Children with chronic illnesses often have to take time out of school to see a specialist, while their parents or guardians have to take time off work. In addition, care providers may have trouble traveling to rural communities to provide care, taking unaffordable time away from the office for long periods as they care for individual patients across regions. "Virtual care not only increases efficiency but impacts access to care in ways in-person care cannot. It has helped those who don't have access to transportation, especially in the middle of the night," says Jacquelin Solomon, Implementations Project Manager at eVisit, a telemedicine solutions provider. "A parent with a sick child being able to have increased access to care — that's a huge thing that virtual care services provide now." Telehealth has been especially useful in unlocking access to specialty care for children, such as speech therapy and behavioral health services. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, many specialty care providers didn't consider virtual care a viable option to provide care, according to Jackie Thomas, Enterprise Customer Success Manager at eVisit. But following the widespread use of virtual care during the public health emergency, providers found that it can, in fact, improve care quality, particularly for children with special needs. For instance, a 2022 pre-and post-data analysis showed wrap-around virtual care programs for children and adolescents with medical complexity demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in hospitalizations and ED visits. Virtual care can also be beneficial for providers to virtually observe an autistic child in their home environment where they are most comfortable and can best demonstrate their routine to develop an appropriate treatment plan, she adds. Further, virtual care supports pediatric care providers in several ways, including by boosting operational efficiency and clinician productivity. Care coordination, education, parental support, and care triage, in particular, become easier with virtual care, Solomon and Thomas note. KEY CONSIDERATIONS WHEN SELECTING TELEHEALTH TECHNOLOGY To ensure the success of a pediatric virtual care program, healthcare providers must select the right technology. One key factor to consider is the configurability of the platform. "You do not want your highly compensated providers trying to figure out all the nooks and crannies of a platform that isn't configured and designed to their workflow," says Jason Weinrich, Senior Director of Professional Services at eVisit. Configuring the platform to clinical workflows — rather than adjusting workflows to the platform's capabilities — can support provider adoption and continuity of care. "Having that ability to quickly access the visit from their schedule, see a patient, hand off the patient to another clinician, like a nurse educator, all from one virtual care platform allows for continuity of care," Thomas states. "It also prevents burnout for the provider by allowing an MA to support rooming the patient and the entire clinical team to work at the top of their license." Additionally, customizing virtual care platforms can allow clinicians to address social determinants of health specific to the pediatric populations they serve. For instance, adding translation services to the platform can help providers engage with patients with limited English proficiency. "Providing access to these patient populations and allowing them to have the whole platform translated into Spanish increases patient satisfaction as well as adherence to care plans for non-English speaking pediatric patients and their parents or caregivers," says Solomon. Another critical consideration is whether the virtual care platform integrates into the provider's EHR, which can further streamline workflows, eliminate redundant and duplicative tasks, and increase proper visit documentation, freeing up providers for patient care, she adds. Ultimately, pediatric virtual care programs have the best chance for success when the selected technology meets the health system’s specific needs. The only way to ensure this is through detailed conversations between vendors and clinical leaders. "Clinical leaders need to have a conversation with vendors about what workflows look like with their solution, discussing what their clinical teams are doing every day, and where the pain points are,” says Weinrich. “Vendors should be able to recommend solutions to accommodate clinical workflows across multiple specialties, supporting both scheduled and on-demand visits. Bringing that insight into the conversation as opposed to just giving you their out-of-box product is key. Build that box together." BEST PRACTICES FOR IMPLEMENTATION Implementation of virtual care that supports the digitization of pediatric care requires significant efforts to ensure new care models do not inadvertently exacerbate inequities in care. Deciding on a comprehensive project plan is the first step. Platforms should be configurable to align with established workflows while also offering innovative ways to enhance workflows for greater efficiency. Then, there needs to be discussions around platform education and adoption strategies. Vendors should partner with the health system’s training teams to ensure a successful rollout. Health systems must then walk through the workflows before putting them into action. Having your providers test everything and offer real-time feedback before going live can prevent future issues. In this way, providers can ensure that the technology will power their pediatric virtual care programs and provide the necessary flexibility as virtual care preferences shift. "You want to adjust quickly because the market's adjusting quickly because patients enjoy the access virtual care gives them," Weinrich said. "It's exciting; we see our health system clinical teams getting very excited about jumping on, doing quick testing with us to make sure things work. They are excited too about where virtual care is headed." Though virtual care use has leveled off since its peak in the early months of the pandemic, virtual care has become an integral part of the healthcare delivery model. As pediatric providers optimize their programs, the right technology can go a long way toward widening access and improving the healthcare experience for patients and their families. ___________________________________ About eVisit eVisit is an enterprise virtual care delivery platform built for health systems and hospitals. It delivers innovative virtual experiences in care navigation, care delivery, and care engagement, improving margins at scale without sacrificing quality or patient and provider satisfaction. eVisit works seamlessly across enterprise service lines and departments to improve outcomes, reduce costs, and boost revenue. Based in Phoenix, Ariz., eVisit helps healthcare organizations innovate and succeed in today’s changing healthcare market. See original article: https://mhealthintelligence.com/news/configuring-virtual-care-to-boost-pediatric-healthcare-quality-access < Previous News Next News >

Telehealth May Be Rural Healthcare’s Lifeline Corey Scurlock December 28, 2022 As a new year dawns, it seems like a stock-taking time in U.S. healthcare. Skyrocketing costs, underwater margins, a depleted workforce and sicker patients have most hospitals and systems thinking existential thoughts about 2023, none more so than rural facilities. According to a report by the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, 116 rural hospitals across 31 states closed between 2010 and 2019. Many of them were small critical access hospitals. Federal Covid-19 relief funding is believed to have prevented additional closures—only two rural hospitals closed in 2021. Now, though, 631 rural hospitals are threatened with possible closure within the next few years, according to the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. As the CEO and founder of an acute care telehealth company, I’ve observed firsthand that workforce needs are one of the primary drivers of telehealth adoption. What was once a staff shortage is now a crisis, particularly in nursing, but also among physicians. From 2020 to 2021, the total supply of registered nurses decreased by over 100,000, the largest drop in four decades. By 2025, there could be a shortage of 200,000 to 450,000 nurses in the U.S. Rural hospitals are at a particular disadvantage since they tend to have worse workforce shortages than urban hospitals. According to the BPC, “urban areas have 30.8 physicians per 10,000 residents; rural ones have 10.9 physicians per 10,000.” There are also often fewer specialists—such as cardiologists, psychiatrists, radiologists and obstetricians—in rural areas. Opportunities To Improve Care Rural hospitals have for years contracted with academic medical centers for remote episodic help with patients with clinically complex conditions, such as stroke and sepsis. To make care more affordable, we’re seeing more rural healthcare leaders embracing telehealth for supplemental care, filling in coverage gaps or for specialized consultations on complex cases so that people get the right care at the right time in the right setting. In previous articles, I wrote about how telehealth can provide clinical expertise, how telehealth specialists target “hot spots” along the patient care journey and about virtual nursing, in which veteran RNs with specialty expertise guide bedside staff and patients through the care process. Rural hospitals are in dire need of expert care at patient transition points. Virtual care often starts in what is now the front door of a hospital: the emergency room. Rural and critical access hospitals often have to park patients in the hallway as they triage. A remote intensivist steeped in critical care medicine can track the vital signs of patients and do the intake, often guiding inexperienced staff to the right site of care and helping them through tests, diagnoses and procedures. Inappropriate patient transfers are a source of inefficiencies and poor-quality care. Patients may be sent to intensive care who don’t need to be. Some can be easily treated in the ER and sent home. Others may need a complex operation, for which a transfer to a level 1 trauma center is needed. Outcomes for ER patients with delayed care are, not surprisingly, poorer. Maximizing A Stretched Workforce The BPC examined three evidence-based programs that involve using digital technology—one of which was tele-ICU—to see how they could optimize a stretched healthcare workforce and ensure that patients receive quality care in their local hospitals. Tele-ICU programs can be episodic, such as enabling two-way audiovisual communication between telehealth providers and local ICUs to get answers to questions, or they can be continuous, where a remote physician has complete access to electronic medical records, imaging systems and other databases to get timely information that informs decisions about a patient’s care. According to the BPC, “studies have demonstrated that tele-ICU programs enhanced care plans, improved clinical outcomes, reduced hospital transfers, and were associated with increased best-practice adherence.” Telehealth also facilitates the mentoring of young nurses and assesses where there are gaps in current knowledge. The BPC report mentions a study that found that 27% of hospitals with ICUs have tele-ICU capabilities. Such capabilities can potentially lead to substantial savings: The report cites a 2019 cost-benefit analysis that found that a telehealth ICU program saved $3.14 million over six months by “reducing ICU variable costs per case, decreasing length of stays and decreasing ICU mortality.” It’s a fairly straightforward story: Remote intensivists can monitor dozens of patients remotely at a time, while tele-ICU nurses can keep track of 30 to 50 patients simultaneously, compared with just three for a bedside RN. Bedside clinicians typically can deal with only one emergency at a time, while remote intensivists can handle up to four codes at once. A Path Forward Pretty soon, the pressures of the workforce shortage will likely compel many, if not most, acute care providers to adopt some virtual care across the enterprise. So it’s crucial for rural hospitals to take steps now to ingrain telehealth into their operations and make it part of the fabric of care—that way, it’s there when they need it. Here are some things for rural hospitals to think about when choosing a telehealth partner. • There are many entities offering telehealth services, ranging from large academic medical centers to consortiums of providers to vendors large and small. Make sure you have complete trust in your chosen partner. • Ensure that all of the entity’s physicians are licensed to practice medicine in your state(s). If not, they cannot order tests, prescribe medications or do anything but recommend a course of action. • Does the telehealth provider have a network of specialists in every area? For example, many vendors lack psychiatrists, who are in short supply nationally amid the explosion in demand for mental health services. • Make sure your telehealth partner understands patient flow optimization techniques that support level-loading and optimized bed utilization. Final Thoughts Through my travels and in conversations with executives across the nation, I’ve found that the word “telehealth” doesn’t sound techy anymore and that the understanding of the benefits delivered by digitally enabled care is more mature. Telehealth is now recognized as a tool that, as part of a strategic process to remedy gaps in care delivery, can be combined with change management to drive real value. Soon, in fact, “telehealth” may be replaced by “health” when we look at the evolution of care through technology. Dr. Corey Scurlock MD, MBA is the CEO & founder of Equum Medical. See original article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2022/12/28/telehealth-may-be-rural-healthcares-lifeline/?sh=1f7657be3e9d < Previous News Next News >

Top of Page Video Access Highlighted Clincal Innovation Business Funding NMTHA Town Hall Experts in TH Webinars Webinars, Interviews, & Videos Video Access Featured Webinar & Video Series Highlighted Videos ​ NMTHA provi des videos by topic: Clinical Innovation Business Funding Town Hall Meeting Expert Interviews Webinars FEATURED WEBINAR NMTHA Town Hall Event: The Future of Telehealth As our world changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so did the world of telehealth. But, what happens next? Featuring nationally recognized speaker and telehealth pioneer Dr. Weinstein, plus Russel Toal from New Mexico's OSI. View Webinar FEATURED SERIES Experts in Telehealth: An Interview Series NMTHA brings "Experts in Telehealth" a video series interviewing experts from various areas within the Telehealth arena. View Series Featured The Modern-Day House Call. Duke City’s Medic Buddy: House Call/Telemed Hybrid August 24, 2022 Mark Maydew, CFO/COO and Kelly Spring, PA-C from Duke City Cares walk us through their Medic Buddy Mobile Medical Care service. Duke City Cares is not only making house calls but connecting patients when needed to physicians via telemedicine via this mobile service. ​ Performing a Physical via Telemedicine April 15, 2022 Dr. Tarun Girotra, Clinical Educator and Assistant Professor of Neurology at the University of New Mexico. Dr. Girotra presents various levels of physical exam documentation over telemedicine and demonstrates how to perform the best possible physical exam during a telehealth visit. ​ ​ CLINICAL ​ Leveraging Telehealth for Behavioral Health in Challenging Times December 14, 2022 Molly Brack, Clinical Director at the Agora Crisis Center and Wendy Linebrink-Allison, Program Manager of the NM Crisis Line and Elizabeth Glantz, 988 Project Manager with NM Behavioral Health Services Division. Presentation on how crisis line services can assist in closing gaps and build bridges for people who experience mental, emotional, and behavioral health and substance use concerns which do not replace community services, but fill in the gaps and create connections to support people in communities. ​ Performing a Physical via Telemedicine April 15, 2022 Dr. Tarun Girotra, Clinical Educator and Assistant Professor of Neurology at the University of New Mexico. Dr. Girotra presents on the various levels of physical exam documentation over telemedicine and demonstrates how to perform the best possible physical exam during a telehealth visit. ​ Addressing Provider Burnout December 01, 2021 Rick Vinnay, LCSW, CEAP - The Solutions Group EAP and Wellness Programs, and Pierce Ferriegel, CEO - The Community Lighthouse. Rick Vinnay and Pierce Ferriegel each have a different vantage point and discuss what their organization experienced and how they managed burnout. Telemedicine Clinical Specialties October 27, 2021 Dr. Randy Nederhoff, Neonatology, Dr. Rina Patel-Trujillo, Endocrinology, and Dr. David Phelps, Medical Director, PHS Urgent Care Clinics. For this webinar we bring you three medical specialists and their experience using telemedicine. They cover conducting a physical exam via telemed, using telemed for endocrinology, primary care, specialty care, surgical specialties and neonatal care. Telemedicine Clinical Specialties: Behavioral Health October 20, 2021 Lora Blazina, LPCC, Clinical Supervisor at The Mountain Center, Santa Fe’, Dr. Caroline Bonham, Vice Chair of Community Behavioral Health Policy, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Dr. Marita Campos-Melady, Clinical Psychologist and Director of Specialty Behavioral Health Therapy services at Presbyterian Medical Group. In this webinar we have three speakers as we explore tele behavioral health - the challenges, the successes and the innovations when using telehealth for serious mental illnesses, complex trauma, use in BH and medical settings and for adults as well as children. ​ Expanding Your Telemedicine Services September 29, 2021 Dr. Elizabeth Krupinski, Phd, Southwest Telehealth Resource Center, and Dr. Van Roper, University of New Mexico. Whether you have been using telemedicine for 1 year or 10, Drs. Krupinski and Roper have some ideas for making the most of your telemedicine services, which can contribute to further sustaining your practice. Telehealth and COVID: Lessons Learned February 17, 2021 Van Roper, PhD, FNP-C, Associate Clinical Professor. This presentation covers telehealth basics, primary care specific applications, and lessons learned in the implementation of telehealth in small rural clinics during the COVID-19 pandemic. Care Integration in the Time of Covid: Focus on Patient Experience January 13, 2021 Elizabeth Krupinski, PhD, Southwest Telehealth Resource Center. This presentation focuses on ensuring patients have a positive experience during telemedicine encounters, starting from the first encounter at scheduling through the actual visit with the provider. Topics include incorporating the entire care team in telemedicine encounters and finding relevant quality indicators to measure success. ​ ​ INNOVATION ​ The Ups and Downs of Digital Innovation in Healthcare November 16, 2022 Alex Carter, certified Physician Assistant, Presbyterian Healthcare Services’ Innovation Hub. A sought after speaker on this topic, Alex's presentation includes TytoCare as a case by which to discuss a system-wide Telehealth implementation, and get real with the many challenges they have. She weaves in other projects and tools as well. ​ Rethinking How We Connect Hospitals, Specialists and Patients September 21, 2022 Darcy Litzen, MS, BSN, RN, VP of Sales for AmplifyMD. Physician video visits became necessary during the pandemic and are now widely accepted. But what if we take them a step further and use virtual care to provide a holistic solution to the ever-present cost-of-care and network adequacy pressures on health systems and insurers, while also addressing physician burnout and the complexities of providing timely specialty care locally? All with built-in continuous improvement? The Modern-Day House Call. Duke City’s Medic Buddy: House Call/Telemed Hybrid August 24, 2022 Mark Maydew, CFO/COO and Kelly Spring, PA-C from Duke City Cares walk us through their Medic Buddy Mobile Medical Care service. Duke City Cares is not only making house calls but connecting patients when needed to physicians via telemedicine via this mobile service. Growing Peer Support in the Virtual World. How Presbyterian Healthcare Service’s Community Health Built a Virtual Peer Network March 17, 2022 Valerie V. Quintana, MA, PTP, and Donald M. Hume, CPSW with Presbyterian Health Services, Community Health. Presbyterian Healthcare Service's Community Health department stood up a virtual peer network. In this presentation, Valerie Quintana and Donald Hume describe what they built and bring us their experience - the challenges, the successes, and what they learned in creating this new network. BUSINESS OF TELEHEALTH Telehealth Needs & Opportunities: Emerging Findings from BH Providers December 08, 2021 Margy Wienbar, MS, and Renee G. Sussman, RN, MA, MSN. This presentation briefly reviews the findings of the report “Telehealth Needs & Opportunities: F indings from Nonprofit Behavioral Health Providers in Northern New Mexico” that was published by the New Mexico Telehealth Alliance and Anchorum St. Vincent in July of 2021. Participants will hear from three of the organizations that were interviewed and contributed to the report’s findings. Telemedicine Billing & Coding: What You Need to Know September 08, 2021 Steve DeSaulniers from Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Mexico, Jennifer Sandoval from Molina Healthcare, Julie Wohrlin from Western Sky Community Care, Dr. Denise Gonzales from Presbyterian Healthcare, Lorelei Kellogg, NM HSD, and Moderator: Stetson Berg, UNM Center for Telehealth This full panel of speakers present and answer questions from attendees. Delta Variant is on the Rise: Is Your Telemedicine Practice HIPAA Compliant? September 01, 2021 Michael Herrick, Founder & CEO Matterform. With the rise of the Delta Variant, you may be thinking that we will be relying on telehealth more this fall. Are you compliant? Do you have concerns about your platform? Have you been relying on tools that won't be compliant once the Public Emergency Health order ends? ​ Collective Learning of the Telehealth Learning Community March 31, 2021 Kate Gibbons, LCSW, LISW, Ph.D., of Janus LLC. A summation and update on the learning and data collected during the first cohort of the Telehealth Learning Community (TLC) for behavioral health providers. Show Me the Data: How COVID-19 Impacted Telehealth Claims & What Happens Next March 17, 2021 Stefany Goradia, MSIE-VP Health Analytics, RS21 Health Lab. COVID-19 caused a spike in telehealth as new payment models were approved and the healthcare industry pivoted rapidly to continue providing care via telehealth at the March onset. Since that time, organizations have witnessed declines in overall telehealth utilization, with some services slowly dwindling and others converting entirely back to in-person visits. In this case study, we will review an anonymized payer’s telehealth claim trends, services and conditions that were identified to be the most widely-adopted for telehealth between March and December 2020, and considerations for an ongoing telehealth strategy going into 2021. New Mexico’s Telehealth Stature Simplified: What You Need To Know March 10, 2021 Beth Landon, MBA, MHA-NMTHA Chair, and Stetson Berg, MHA-NMTHA Vice Chair. New Mexico enjoys one of the nation’s most progressive telehealth laws. Full payment parity and zero geographic restrictions comprise just part of the law; we also suffer zero limitations on eligible providers and no lifetime limits. This presentation and ensuing discussion intends to demystify the law, answer your questions, and gain your ideas on how to further improve the statute in subsequent legislative sessions. ​ Developing Telehealth Workflow for Best Possible Patient and Provider Experience February 10, 2021 Jen Gruger, PMI-PBA. Delivering a successful telehealth visit is as much about the step-by-step workflow and how each individual involved executes their portion, as it is about the technology used and the clinical outcome we desire. This session will cover three essential components of building (or repairing) an effective and efficient workflow for this type of visit regardless of the telehealth platform being used. ​ Using Remote Monitoring Technology to Improve Patient Outcomes & Retain Staff January 20, 2021 Arlene Maxim, RN. This presentation focuses on technology to augment home health care, an extremely valuable tool when clinicians use it effectively. Agency owners and managers are beginning to see the critical role that telehealth and remote care monitoring can play in keeping patients at home and improving patient satisfaction. Telehealth and remote care monitoring can also improve clinician satisfaction. During this session we discuss what to look for in a telehealth/remote care monitoring provider and how to market technology’s ability to improve patient outcomes and staff satisfaction. FUNDING FCC Rural Health Care Program Funding Opportunities March 24, 2021 Steve Constantine, SVP/CIO, Prairie Health Ventures & COO, and Marci L. White, FCC Rural Health Care Program Funding Specialist. The FCC Rural Health Care Programs provide funding opportunities for eligible healthcare providers across the U.S. to develop and grow their telemedicine programs. The two programs fund telecommunications and broadband services necessary for the provision of health care. In addition, the Healthcare Connect Fund allows opportunities for some urban participation as well as funding for data centers, administrative offices and certain network equipment. NMTHA TOWN HALL Town Hall: The Future of Telehealth September 22, 2021 Dr. Ronald S. Weinstein, na tional telemedicine pioneer, and Russell Toal, New Mexico Superintendent of Ins urance and local community. This special 90-minute town hall explores the possibilities of where we go from here. The town hall features speakers from local and state leadership, healthcare and YOU. ​ INTERVIEWS: TELEH EA LTH EXPERTS ​ Elizabeth Krupinksi , PhD, Southwest Telehealth Resource Center Jen Gruger , PMI-PBA, EHR Sup port Dept., Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center Geof Empey , Progra m Operations Director, University of New Mexico Center for Telehealth Kelly Schlegel , Director of the New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion ​ Clincal Innovation Business Funding NMTHA Town Hall Highlighted Videos Experts in TH Highlighted NMTHA Webinar Series 10-week Educational Series From our 2021 10-week educational series, webinars focused on data, broadband in New Mexico, client engagement, and more! These webinars were hosted by the New Mexico Telehealth Alliance and made possible through funding by Health Resources and Services Administration Office for the Advancement of Telehealth and the Southwest Telehealth Resource Center. View Webinar Fall 2021 Webinar Series Topics include the future of telehealth, billing, using telehealth for clinical specialties, and more. View Webinar Webinars

NH Lawmakers Seek to End Telehealth Parity, Audio-Only Phone Coverage By Eric Wicklund January 28, 2021 New Hampshire lawmakers are debating a new bill that would eliminate payment parity for telehealth and coverage of audio-only phone calls, both of which were included in legislation signed into law last year. New Hampshire lawmakers are debating a bill that would revise the state’s telehealth rules to eliminate payment parity and coverage for audio-only services. HB 602, recently introduced by State Reps. Jess Edwards, Jason Osborne and John Hunt, seeks to roll back certain provisions of a telehealth bill signed into law by Governor Chris Sununu in July 2020, when the country was in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. New Hampshire was one of the first states to make permanent emergency measures that had been enacted months earlier to improve coverage for and access to telehealth services. The new bill takes aim at two provisions that have been producing a lot of debate: reimbursing care providers for telehealth services at the same rate that they’re paid for in-person care, and coverage for telehealth services delivered via and audio-only phone or platform. The bill strikes language from state law that compels private payers and Medicaid to reimburse providers “on the same basis as the insurer provides coverage and reimbursement for health care services provided in person.” It also excludes audio-only phones calls and faxes from the list of acceptable telehealth and telemedicine modalities. Spurred by the rapid adoption and success of connected health services during the COVID-19 public health emergency, some states have moved to make payment parity permanent, in particular for mental health and substance abuse services. Many others are keeping these emergency measures in place until the PHE ends and waiting for the federal government to establish a long-term policy. Payment parity for telehealth is a contentious issue. Those opposed to the concept feel the payer industry should be able to negotiate coverage with care providers. They also argue that telehealth services should be valued differently than in-person care. Those in favor of parity say reimbursement should be kept on a par with in-person care – at least for the time being – to give reluctant providers a reason to try telehealth and to spur widespread adoption. As for audio-only phone calls, telehealth advocates say they should be included in coverage because not everyone has access to reliable broadband connectivity or the resources to use or buy audio-visual telemedicine services. Opponents, meanwhile, say the phone isn’t an adequate platform to establish a doctor-patient relationship and provide proper healthcare services. Among those opposed to HB 602 is Scot Wilson, LCMHC, a licensed clinical mental health provider at Seacoast Mental Health Center in Portsmouth with a private practice in Concord. “If HB 602 is passed it will do nothing more than reduce the already sparse amount of services in New Hampshire,” he recently wrote in a post in Seacoast Online. “We will see an increase in wait times for hospital beds as we have more people unable to find a therapist. We will see individuals without access to the internet or the technology to allow telehealth via video to have access to necessary care. We will have more therapists decide that we cannot see people through telehealth because it is not financially viable.” < Previous News Next News >

How Telemedicine and Digital Therapeutics can Improve Orthopedic Care and PT Bill Siwicki October 11, 2022 A physical therapist and telehealth expert shows how the technologies can help patients, especially in disadvantaged populations, access the care they need and stick to a care plan. Minority and lower-income populations are less likely to have orthopedic surgery – and more likely to experience poor outcomes when they do. Untreated musculoskeletal conditions can result in sedentary behavior that leads to or worsens co-morbidities, including diabetes, obesity, depression and opioid misuse. Access challenges are partly to blame. Disadvantaged populations face many barriers to care, including low referral rates, lack of Medicaid acceptance and transportation difficulties. Telehealth experts say that offering remote education and physical therapy to patients can improve access for vulnerable populations, including: ● Patients in rural communities who live far away from brick-and-mortar care facilities. ● Patients who cannot afford copays for doctor or outpatient PT appointments. ● Patients in urban communities whose mobility issues make leaving home difficult. ● Patients whose inability to take time off work or secure childcare limits in-person visits. ● Patients who speak English as a second language. Healthcare IT News interviewed physical therapist Bronwyn Spira, founder and CEO of Force Therapeutics, to discuss the challenges and opportunities surrounding this area of virtual care. Q. Why are minority and lower-income populations less likely to have orthopedic surgery – and more likely to experience poor outcomes when they do? A. Musculoskeletal disorders are extremely common in our country. At least 60% of American adults are affected by a musculoskeletal disorder, and more than 75% of those 65 and older are living with at least one musculoskeletal condition, which ranges from tendonitis to arthritis, degenerative disc disease, and chronic lower back pain. Lower-income and minority populations face multiple barriers to accessing the right healthcare and are typically less likely to utilize orthopedic care, which can result in significant functional impairment. Untreated musculoskeletal conditions also can result in sedentary behaviors that lead to or worsen comorbidities such as diabetes, obesity and depression. In one study of more than 7,000 individuals with arthritis, the incidence rates of developing disabilities in activities of daily living (ADL) over a six-year period were significantly higher for Blacks (28%) and Spanish-speaking Hispanics (28.5%) as compared to whites (16.2%). As I mentioned, disadvantaged populations often lack sufficient access to care, which can manifest in a few different ways. Many cannot afford the financial burden of co-pays, childcare, transportation, time off work or the out-of-pocket cost of receiving care when uninsured. The Commonwealth Fund found that 50% of low-income adults in the U.S. skipped at least one medical visit, test, treatment or prescription per year due to its cost. Patients with state-funded Medicaid and federally funded Medicare plans also encounter logistical barriers to securing musculoskeletal care, including lower referral rates to orthopedic surgeons. Orthopedic specialists are 13% less likely to accept new Medicaid patients than they are Medicare patients or those with commercial insurance plans. Lastly, more than a third of Americans (36%) have low health literacy, which can be defined as the degree to which individuals can obtain, process and understand health information. Older age, minority membership and low socioeconomic status are disproportionately correlated with poor functional health literacy in both urban and rural populations. Language barriers also impact care utilization and success rates, as individuals who cannot fully understand the directions they are given will not be able to adhere to a care plan. One study on healthcare utilization among Hispanic adults found that limited English proficiency contributes to the underuse of medical services. For all of these reasons, members of disadvantaged populations are far less likely to have orthopedic surgery to correct their musculoskeletal conditions. The data also indicates stark disparities in orthopedic care utilization among racial and ethnic minority groups. Researchers have found that even after adjustments are made for age, sex and income, Black patients are 30% less likely to receive a total hip or knee replacement than white patients. A systematic review of the literature reveals that members of minority populations who do have joint replacement surgery also are at a higher risk for early complications within the first 90 days, leading to higher hospital readmission rates. While there is no consensus as to the cause of these disparities, research suggests that multiple comorbidities, lower income, poor health literacy, provider bias and insufficient interventions are contributing factors. Q. How does offering remote education and remote physical therapy to patients improve access for vulnerable populations? A. First and foremost, remote education and physical therapy platforms reduce the need for patients to attend appointments in person. When hospitals, health systems and ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) implement care management and remote monitoring tools, they set the stage for achieving greater health equity by removing some of the physical barriers to care. At the start of a surgical episode, for example, replacing preoperative in-person appointments with virtual education classes means that patients can get all the information they need to prepare for surgery without leaving the house. Educating patients about what they can expect for their surgery – including what outcomes are typical, and how long their healing will take – helps them set appropriate goals for their recovery. All remote education content must be tailored to the patient and their condition, and ideally should reflect their comorbidities, medication and social determinants of health, as these factors influence how a patient is likely to respond to treatment. Content should be delivered in the patient's native language, and should feature clear and easily understood directions. Engaging a care partner who can support the patient's recovery journey also can be extremely beneficial. Many patients find it helpful to return to valuable content as questions arise, and care partners can assist by reinforcing the care team's instructions along the way. Content also should be easily digestible and should arrive at the appropriate point in the patient's journey, so as not to overwhelm patients with too much information. For example, before surgery, patients need information about how long they will be out of commission and how to prepare their space for moving around with an assistive device. A few days after surgery, they need information on how to manage their swelling and control their pain. Many hospitals and ASCs also are offering patients the option of virtual PT to supplement or replace traditional outpatient PT, as remote therapy delivers similar results at a much lower opportunity cost for the patient. Randomized trials have shown that virtual PT produces similar outcomes to outpatient PT after total knee and hip arthroplasty procedures, as long as the virtual program is prescribed by the treating clinical team. In addition to the time savings involved, replacing traditional PT with remote PT can save patients hundreds of dollars in copays and convenience, as patients can complete the rehab in their own home at a convenient time. Q. How does telehealth technology serve as a digital bridge to, for example, patients who cannot afford copays for doctor or outpatient PT appointments, patients in urban communities whose mobility issues make leaving home difficult, patients whose inability to take time off work or secure childcare limits in-person visits, and patients who speak English as a second language? A. Digital therapeutics can help orthopedic teams build stronger relationships with their patients, especially those who are members of disadvantaged populations and who are likely to need additional support. Standardizing patient access to preoperative and postoperative education through remote technology can help practices correct against implicit bias and ensure consistent communication with all patient populations, including the 13% of Americans who speak Spanish at home. For patients living in rural communities, telehealth tools can close the access gap imposed by geography. For patients in urban areas, who may struggle to use public transportation or navigate the stairs in a fifth-floor walk-up, telehealth tools can mean the difference between skipping necessary appointments and following their care plan. Ideally, telehealth technology can serve as a digital bridge to connect vulnerable patients to their care teams. However, the infrastructure of any such tool must support all patient populations, including the 43% of lower-income adults without broadband services at home. In many low-income communities, insufficient access to a computer also hinders the use of digital care management and remote monitoring solutions. Applications must compensate for the digital divide in their system design to ensure content does not require internet access, which can be poor or non-existent in certain areas. Patients should be able to access their care plans via mobile device with a secure login. According to the Pew Research Center, 27% of adults living in households earning less than $30,000 a year are smartphone-only internet users. As disadvantaged populations are far less likely to own a tablet, laptop or desktop computer, telehealth tools must be mobile-friendly and SMS-enabled. Two-way text messaging between patients and clinicians is a proven health intervention tool, as patients are much more likely to read and respond to a text than an email. Direct messaging via telehealth platforms also can improve outcomes for disadvantaged populations. When postoperative patients have a question about their pain levels, they can text their care team for answers instead of making an unnecessary trip to urgent care or the ER – or simply ignoring the problem until later, when interventions are less likely to be successful. Research shows that providing a care management platform with direct messaging decreases readmission rates across musculoskeletal procedures. Q. On a personal note, how does telehealth help you, the provider, with all these challenges? A. Early on in my career as a physical therapist, I managed and founded a number of orthopedics and sports medicine clinics in New York. My colleagues and I were constantly frustrated by how basic patient challenges – from inadequate healthcare access to poor health literacy and a lack of motivation – impacted our patients' outcomes. Similarly, we had very little or no visibility into how patients were managing at home, and whether the patients were achieving the outcomes that mattered to them. There wasn't a reliable closed-loop connection that provided the data we needed to make the right care decisions. Many patients would drop out of a treatment regimen due to access or cost challenges. There often were protracted gaps in care, and by the time the patient returned for treatment, they had often regressed or developed complications. That period led me to believe that evidence-based remote therapy and education could play a pivotal role in helping disadvantaged populations follow their postoperative care plan. In the traditional system, clinicians spend much of their valuable time in preoperative education visits, repeating the same things over and over to patients who are not likely to retain the bulk of this information. After surgery, nurses and care coordinators then work overtime to return patients' phone calls and fill in the knowledge gaps for patients. Digital care management systems allow orthopedic practices to scale valuable in-person time by automating low-touch interactions, while identifying the patients who need targeted one-to-one intervention. With the benefit of technology, practices can create high-value, repeatable workflows to fully prepare patients for surgery by giving patients what they need to know as they need to know it. This phased, segmented approach to education has been proven to correct for the retention gap of in-person education. The addition of patient messaging and remote monitoring tools enables the delivery of patient-reported outcomes data and care plan progression feedback to be returned in real time to the care team, who then can intervene as necessary. Orthopedic practices are much less likely to miss a patient who has stalled in their recovery and is at a high risk of developing complications. When digital therapeutics are designed to be inclusive of all patient populations, they can transform the way we practice orthopedics to improve health equity. Twitter: @SiwickiHealthIT Email the writer: bsiwicki@himss.org Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication. See original article: https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/how-telemedicine-and-digital-therapeutics-can-improve-orthopedic-care-and-pt < Previous News Next News >

Telemedicine Holds Potential to Help Climate Change Center for Connected Health Policy May 4, 2021 MobiHealth News is shining the light on a much-overlooked benefit of telemedicine: how it can help curb greenhouse gas emissions and thus help in the fight against climate change. MobiHealth News is shining the light on a much-overlooked benefit of telemedicine: how it can help curb greenhouse gas emissions and thus help in the fight against climate change. The recent article highlights that the United States healthcare industry is a big contributor to carbon emissions, and although telemedicine doesn’t solve the problem, its increased use does lead the industry in the right direction. This has been proven in two research studies conducted on this very subject. The first study, published in the journal, PLoS One explores the carbon footprint of telemedicine and found that replacing in-person visits with telemedicine resulted in 40-70 times decrease in carbon emissions. They note in their conclusion that for telemedicine to make a significant difference, a paradigm shift is necessary where telemedicine is regarded as an ordinary part of health care rather than exclusively for those who lack access due to geography. The second study, conducted by the University of California Davis Health System, examined travel-related and environmental savings as a result of use of telemedicine appointments for outpatient specialty consultations at the university. They found that telemedicine consultations resulted in significant savings of total emissions and that their telemedicine program had a positive impact on environmental pollutants. CCHP also previously published a catalogue of environmental impacts studies, which included several international studies looking at this same issue and coming to the same conclusion regarding telemedicine’s positive impact on carbon emissions in the healthcare sector. As telehealth has become more widespread due to the COVID-19 public health emergency its not hard to imagine that telehealth will cement its place as a mainstream tool in healthcare as the authors in the PLoS study suggest. However, policy barriers have historically interrupted the growth of telehealth, and it is yet to be seen whether the end of COVID-19 will bring telehealth’s progress to a halt. In a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change, researchers found that as a whole, the temporary reduction in daily global CO2 emissions during COVID-19 saw a decrease by as much as -26% on average, but note that the impact of 2020 annual emissions depends on government actions and economic incentives post-pandemic, which will shape the path forward for decades. It will be important as entities such as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the congressional budget office, state governments and others conduct their analyses on cost estimates for telehealth that they factor in savings to travel costs incurred through the use of telehealth and the implications for the environment. To learn more, see the full mobihealth news article featuring this important issue. Mobile Health News: https://www.mobihealthnews.com/news/telemedicine-came-rescue-during-covid-19-could-it-help-climate-change-too < Previous News Next News >

Pandemic broadens NMDOT’s outlook to lay groundwork for a connected future By NMDOT February 8, 2021 “The pandemic forced New Mexico to rely heavily on internet access, making broadband even more essential,” SANTA FE – The New Mexico Department of Transportation is committed to helping build out the information highways in New Mexico to connect rural communities to vital digital resources while enhancing mobility and safety on state highways. “The pandemic forced New Mexico to rely heavily on internet access, making broadband even more essential,” said Transportation Secretary Mike Sandoval. “Digital expansion has been a passion project of the department for a while, but the urgent need for telecommuting, distance learning and telemedicine has fueled the drive to make internet access for every New Mexican a reality.” The DOT is looking ahead at what it would take to piggyback fiber optic infrastructure with current and future road construction projects to achieve dig once practices and help make future broadband expansion projects more welcoming for industry partners. Additional fiber infrastructure would also enhance the department’s Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) which allows DOT to install additional digital message boards, cameras, and weather sensors, to provide real-time road condition information through the NMRoads application. “As existing roads are reconstructed, there’s an opportunity to install fiber conduit while the road is torn up, so you’re not digging twice, which minimizes the impact on the environment,” said Sandoval. “Building both literal and digital highways will provide innovative, sustainable infrastructure that serves the entire state.” NMDOT is also partnering with the New Mexico Economic Development Department (NMEDD) to conduct a stratospheric broadband infrastructure assessment which will not only evaluate the connectivity opportunities for rural New Mexico, but also identify the same prospects for the state’s transportation needs. “We have a long way to go, but the department is gathering data and taking the necessary steps to ensure DOT plays a significant role in broadband accessibility,” adds Sandoval. < Previous News Next News >

Academy Health Report Addresses Medicaid Directors Perspective on Telehealth Center for Connected Health Policy May 2021 Views on telehealth since the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) began In March 2021, Academy Health released a report detailing results from an environmental scan and discussions with Medicaid Medical Directors (MMDs) on their views on telehealth since the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) began. MMDs are physicians and clinical leaders in different specialties who advise Medicaid programs on clinical matters. During the pandemic, many have weighed in on telehealth and how it should be deployed in their states Medicaid program. The report breaks down views of Medicaid directors and resulting recommendations into three topic areas: Equity, Quality and Payment. Examples of recommendations made in the equity category include: 1. Medicaid programs should clearly communicate temporary telehealth policies and when those policies will expire. 2. Medicaid programs should support expansion of telehealth for purposes of equitable access if clinically appropriate and makes sense in terms of cost and quality. 3. Medicaid programs should work to reduce barriers to telehealth, including addressing the technology divide, digital literacy and underlying health disparities. For more details and recommendations related to quality and payment, read the full report. < Previous News Next News >

CDC: Increased Use of Telehealth Reduces Risk of Overdose Brendan Rodenberg August 31, 2022 BISMARCK, ND (KXNET) — A new study done by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) suggests the expansion of ‘telehealth’ programs plays an important part in reducing the risk of drug overdoses and keeping people in treatment. The term ‘telehealth’ often refers to the distribution of health services and health-related information — including long-distance consultation with medical professionals, medical education, counseling, and intervention — via social technology such as phones and computers. A study published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry noted that during the pandemic, individuals with opioid use disorders (OUDs) who took part in telehealth services not only remained in treatment longer than usual but were also less likely to suffer drug-related overdoses. An increase in individuals taking MOUD (medications for opioid use disorder) was also reported. The key takeaways from the study include the following information: When two groups of Medicare beneficiaries (one that received OUD care before the COVID-19 pandemic and one that received OUD during the pandemic) were compared, people in the pandemic group were much more likely to receive OUD-related telehealth services compared to the pre-pandemic group (19.6% compared to the pre-pandemic’s 0.6%). They were also more likely to receive MOUD services (12.6% compared to pre-pandemic’s 10.8%) Among the COVID-19 pandemic group, receipt of OUD-related telehealth services was associated with significantly better MOUD treatment retention and lower risk of medically-treated overdoses. “Strategies to increase access to care and MOUD receipt and retention are urgently needed, and the results of this study add to the growing research documenting the benefits of expanding the use of telehealth services for people with OUD,” said the acting director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the CDC and study’s lead author Dr. Christopher M. Jones in a press release. “The findings from this collaborative study also highlight the importance of working across agencies to identify successful approaches to address the escalating overdose crisis.” Mass-overdose events happening across US, DEA warns While successful health services were reported in the study, and telehealth programs have been associated with reduced overdoses and increased treatment, it was also noted that some groups — particularly non-Hispanic black persons and individuals living in the southern United States — were less likely to receive these services. The study and CDC state that this information further highlights the need for more efforts to eliminate the ‘digital divide’ and reduce inequalities in access to care and services. “The expansion of telehealth services for people with substance use disorders during the pandemic has helped to address barriers to accessing medical care for addiction throughout the country that have long existed,” said deputy director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and senior author of the study Wilson Compton, M.D., in the release. “Telehealth is a valuable service and when coupled with medications for opioid use disorder can be lifesaving. This study adds to the evidence showing that expanded access to these services could have a longer-term positive impact if continued.” If you or someone close to you needs help for a substance use disorder, talk to your doctor or call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP or go to SAMHSA’s Behavioral Health Treatment Services website. See original article: https://www.kxnet.com/news/national-news/cdc-increased-use-of-telehealth-reduces-risk-of-overdose/ < Previous News Next News >