Telehealth

With updated CMS billing codes and reimbursement eligibility, remote patient monitoring is fast becoming a standard of care for management of chronic conditions. A remote care CEO offers a closer look at one provider's positive outcomes.

Telehealth and hospital-at-home coverage under Medicare flexibilities could end in days. An immediate temporary extension is the only viable vehicle to ensure they do not lapse, the American Telemedicine Association says.

Using virtual care, clinicians can conduct follow-up appointments - transitional care when there's the risk of readmission - that benefit patients, says Dr. Matthew Thompson, an ER physician and the CEO of Telescope Health.

The sprawling health system has a wide variety of virtual care wins, with accomplishments including some 2 million virtual visits annually – including a successful primary care program and more than 20,000 hospital-at-home patients.

Hidden telecom costs may be causing six- or even seven-figure leakage from health systems’ IT budgets.

Healthcare has too often been reactive. But a more forward-thinking approach, using tools and technologies for RPM, can help reduce readmissions, improve patient outcomes and enable success with value-based care models.

A five-year waiver extension would not only give more seniors access to the proven care delivery model, but would also enable continued progress toward permanent expansion, they tell lawmakers.

Robin Glass, president of Included Health, says artificial intelligence has improved cost estimation tools and helps to address patient care gaps, while telehealth access reduces total costs for employee groups.

The rural Texas health system has reduced the number of transfers to other facilities for higher level stroke care, reduced stroke call-to-screen time to under 7.5 minutes, and dropped door-to-needle time to as low as 34 minutes.

Also, Victoria has expanded access to telestroke services in regional communities.