CMS also reported that ACOs in the Medicare Shared Savings Program saved more under new Pathway to Success tracks and if they assumed downside risk. By Jacqueline LaPointe September 15, 2020 – Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) generated $1.19 billion in total net savings to Medicare in 2019, representing the third consecutive year for net program savings and […]
Katie Adams The White House, CMS and other federal agencies have been issuing new policies and grants to expand telehealth access and use during the COVID-19 pandemic. Below is a list of updated policies, grants and other actions taken to support telehealth in response to COVID-19. March 6: President Donald Trump signed an $8.3 billion emergency funding bill […]
The Saturday letter “Telehealth will be valuable even after pandemic ends” from David Stukus made a good case for online visits with medical providers as the pandemic continues and ends. I’ve had a couple of those with my own doctors. One large limitation, however, is that you can’t do blood work online. Doctors often need […]
By Heather Spillman Sep 15, 2020 Telehealth is not a new concept for the health care industry. Prior to Covid-19, the provision of health care services via telehealth varied dramatically across providers, with significant differences based on the organization’s size, type, specialty, and even the market. Virtually overnight, Covid-19 changed telehealth from a “nice-to-have” capability to a […]
They’ve tried the technology and tested the workloads. Now that telehealth is here to stay, providers are looking closely at what telehealth strategies do and not work for them. September 14, 2020 – With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in March, healthcare providers across the country launched or expanded telehealth platforms with the goal of moving […]
The implications of pulling back access to virtual care now would be nothing less than significant. The broad mandates that expanded telehealth coverage for Medicare and Medicaid recipients due to the COVID-19 pandemic are proving their worth. Many patients who typically didn’t have ready (or sometimes any) access to this type of coverage are now being reached. […]
COVID-19 sparked historic patient engagement technology adoption, but healthcare will need to lean on provider testimony to keep these gains. If healthcare wants to keep up the gains in patient engagement technology adoption it saw at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s going to need to tap the providers that patients trust, according to […]
HHS, FCC and USDA on Sept. 1 signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on efforts to improve telehealth services and address health disparities in rural areas. The Rural Telehealth Initiative ultimately aims to use telehealth to supplement gaps in the healthcare system for rural Americans, who have been impacted by hospital closures and lack of specialty […]
Over the past five months, Congress and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have dramatically, but temporarily, expanded coverage and reimbursement for telehealth services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The changes are in effect for the duration of the Health and Human Services (HHS) Public Health Emergency (PHE). As there are significant […]
On August 3, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its proposed Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) updates for the 2021 calendar year, addressing among other policy changes how CMS will treat telehealth codes for the duration of and following the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). Background: CMS’ Process for Reviewing New Telehealth Codes CMS […]
This article will explore Medicaid expansion during COVID-19. We all know that COVID has uprooted our lives. Telehealth is the new post-COVID norm, whereas it was in infancy pre-COVID. Perhaps the pandemic has spurred on Medicaid expansion as well. I would be remiss if I did not mention that increased practice of telehealth and Medicaid […]
The rapid adoption of virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic may be winding down compared to levels it reached early in the COVID-19 pandemic. But that shift marked a “sea change” in healthcare that will have a long-term impact on how care is delivered, said Mayo Clinic health IT leader John Halamka. “Organizations were at 5% telehealth visits […]
COVID-19 accelerated adoption of a digital front door, introducing virtual care access at scale. How can organizations utilize that door after the pandemic wanes? Healthcare organizations looking to unlock the digital front door in healthcare should build up their health IT infrastructure, consider a patient-centered approach, and factor in the impact virtual care will have […]
Telehealth has recently taken off as a way to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, but even though telehealth has been around for several years, clinics had difficulty adopting it pre-COVID-19. This caused clinics to not view telehealth as a viable option, and it was often seen as a last resort approach to healthcare. As reducing […]
What is telehealth?The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S.Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) defines telehealth as the use of electronic information and telecommunications technologies to support and promote long-distance clinical health care, patient andprofessional health-related education, and public health and healthadministration. Technologies include videoconferencing, the internet, storeand-forward imaging, streaming media, […]