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Telehealth

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By Validic | 11:16 am | April 05, 2016
(SPONSORED) As the second installment of the two-part series on digital health's impact on pharma, CEO Ryan Beckland addresses remote patient monitoring and patient-generated health data.
By Jack McCarthy | 03:40 pm | March 29, 2016
More hospitals ranked telehealth as a priority than did last year, and many reported success at engaging patients and improving outcomes. 
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By Validic | 12:25 pm | March 28, 2016
(SPONSORED)The recruitment and enrollment process for clinical trials for drug development is a major challenge for pharmaceutical companies.
By Jack McCarthy | 03:26 pm | March 17, 2016
The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs’ use of telemedicine to treat patients at its Vermont hospital at White River Junction resulted in an average travel payment savings of $18,555 per year between 2005 and 2013, according to a study published in the journal Telemedicine and e-Health. The study found that telemedicine resulted in an average savings of 145 miles and 142 minutes per visit, resulting in the aforementioned payment reductions, while telemedicine services volume grew significantly over the study period such that by the final year the travel savings had increased to $63,804, or about 3.5 percent of the total travel pay for that year. [Also: VA picks up $233 million from Congress to fund VistA EHR upgrades] Authors of the report explained that the number of mental health telemedicine visits increased during the study period but remained small relative to the number of face-to-face visits. And a higher proportion of telemedicine visits involved new patients. On a nationwide scale, the VA has taken strides to use telehealth tools for treating its patients. For example, an August 2015 study determined that older veterans with depression benefited from telemedicine talk as much as in-person therapy sessions. That study, published in The Lancet, found that older veterans with depression benefited from telemedicine talk as much as in-person therapy sessions. With many seniors facing difficulties to getting help for depression, including mobility issues and fear of social stigma, telemedicine can increase their access to treatment, the study found. And with the national VA healthcare system’s travel pay to patients for getting to appointments projected to cost nearly $1 billion in 2015, a 3.5 percent reduction, if achievable at scale, can yield significant savings. Twitter: @HealthITNews
By Mike Miliard | 12:39 pm | March 17, 2016
A new report from the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology claims technologies such as telehealth and wearable sensors should be put to work to help more elderly Americans stay healthy and connected as they age. The report by PCAST, an advisory group of scientists and engineers appointed by President Barack Obama to make policy recommendations related to technology and science, found these types of technologies can help elderly Americans face challenges tied to social connectivity, emotional health and cognitive and physical ability. "With many Americans wishing to live in their homes and communities for as long as possible, technology such as prosthetics, wearable sensors, and other tools for daily living can make that possible," said PCAST members Christine Cassel and Ed Penhoet. [Also: Mobile apps emerging as essential population health tools] As of 2014, an unprecedented 15 percent of the U.S. population was over the age of 65, according to the Census Bureau, and many of them remain active. Recommendations also include creating better access to the Internet as something essential to health, social engagement and well-being, and offering more education and training for seniors in online technologies. PCAST also suggests greater efforts by technology providers to develop monitoring tools for frail and vulnerable elders. But the report also calls on a federal agencies to make changes. Specifically it pointed to telehealth as something with clear benefits for seniors living remotely or with limited mobility – but said the government needed to update regulation and payment policies to reflect recent innovation in the space. For another example, the Federal Trade Commission should continue to enforce regulatory review and guidelines for commercial cognitive training products, PCAST said. [Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook] And the group called upon an array of federal agencies – from the National Institutes of Health to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA – to expand research on projects such as robotics and advanced mobility technology. It also recommended that Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services payment policies should be adapted to increase seniors' access to those next-generation tools. "Technology has played an important role in increasing life expectancy, but it also has an important role to play in increasing the quality of life by maximizing Americans’ ability to function in their later years," PCAST Chairs John Holdren and Eric Lander wrote in a letter to President Obama. Twitter: @MikeMiliardHITN
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By American Well | 04:00 am | February 23, 2016
(SPONSORED) Telehealth is where the patients are. See the new ways patients use telehealth to see a doctor.
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By American Well | 04:00 am | February 19, 2016
(SPONSORED) Health systems are the fastest growing sector of the telehealth adoption market. Find out why.
By Bill Siwicki | 09:45 pm | February 18, 2016
Telehealth provider VirtuMedix is homing in on emergency care. The company's software, as such, comprises a dashboard for tracking patients while they await consultation, as well as features enabling patients to log-in, view their medical record, and state the reason for a particular visit, according to Kannan Sreedhar, group vice president and general manager of VirtuMedix. Sreedhar said that VirtuMedix will be showcasing the latest version of its platform at HIMSS16 beginning in late February. [Also: 11 essential quotes from notable HIMSS keynotes] EMS physicians, for example, can use telemedicine technologies to give patients the ability to access provider organizations in an on-demand fashion, according to VirtuMedix group vice president Kannan Sreedhar. On the other side, patients can enter e-mails or mobile numbers to get messages alerting them when physicians are ready for their consultations, Sreedhar explained, adding that certain features enable patients to conduct online payments. “A parent might have three kids at home and one has an ear infection, and there’s the need to go to an emergency room, where a person might have to wait for three or four hours – that’s the usage of healthcare resources today,” he said. “But when a parent has the ability to use her smartphone or iPad and connect from home with physicians via telehealth, then she does not need to go to the hospital, and an emergency care physician can diagnosis the ear infection and send a prescription to the parent’s local pharmacy.” See all of our HIMSS16 previews According to a study by the American Academy of Family Physicians 15 percent of clinicians are using telemedicine tools today and 78 percent said they believe telemedicine improves access to care. VirtuMedix will be exhibiting at the HIMSS16 booths of partner organizations Allscripts and IDS, where it intends to showcase the latest version of its VirtuMedix platform. Twitter: @SiwickiHealthIT This story is part of our ongoing coverage of the HIMSS16 conference. Follow our live blog for real-time updates, and visit Destination HIMSS16 for a full rundown of our reporting from the show. For a selection of some of the best social media posts of the show, visit our Trending at #HIMSS16 hub.
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By American Well | 04:00 am | February 11, 2016
(SPONSORED) Telemedicine is a hot topic in healthcare, with consumers more willing than ever to see a doctor remotely.
By Jessica Davis | 12:24 pm | February 10, 2016
NewYork-Presbyterian has deployed its Patient Placement Operations Center, designed to support the hospital's existing patient teletracking systems. PPOC integrates NYP's advanced teletracking system with automated patient flow data and real-time patient information to efficiently place patients in the right departments for a smoother admission and placement process. Teletracking was in place within NYP for about five years and was built by senior leadership to combat issues with patient flow among its campuses, which include six main campuses in Manhattan, one behavioral health center in Westchester and two medical centers, among others. [Also: NewYork-Presbyterian says hospital integration not without hurdles] NYP also created the position of vice president of patient access, to focus on teletracking and patient flow, with the hiring of Holly Meisner this past year. Meisner says that although teletracking was in place, it wasn't fully utilized. Her task was to streamline patient flow in all of its campuses. But she soon realized although "the opportunities were present many different processes, we didn't know what the left hand was doing from the right hand." Back in October, NYP relaunched the teletracking initiative on the Columbia campus. It eventually will incorporate Allen, Morgan Stanley, and Cornell campuses into the teletracking system. Construction began in November and was completed in two months. PPOC is the centralized location for the project and is just the first of other projects to be implemented this year at NewYork-Presbyterian. Its Weill Cornell campus is next in line to have a PPOC constructed. [Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook] "Teletracking is a great tool for patient flow software," Meisner said. "I think some of the challenges in health IT is a lot of the large organizations want to create a single platform to integrate the revenue cycle, as well as EMR. That is ideal state." However, it's difficult to access all of the data. "Teletracking does a good job of pulling the data in real-time minutes," she added. "The downside is you're bringing in another system – especially in a world where we're trying to streamline. But the amount of data is worth it to drive results." Twitter: @JessiefDavis