Labeling telehealth as “increasingly vital” to the healthcare delivery system, the American Hospital Association (AHA) urged the Committee on Energy and Commerce to reduce Medicare’s financial and technological barriers to remote care. The letter, addressed to Chairman Fred Upton,follows a report on the growing promise of telehealth to address care disparities, reduce costs, and ease […]
New York became the 22nd state to sign into law legislation that will require commercial and Medicaid plans to provide coverage of telehealth and telemedicine services. The law, originally intended to take effect on January 1, 2015, will become effective on January 1, 2016. In addition to providing definitions for telemedicine (two-way audio video communications, […]
Here’s an excellent article keeping us up to date on Telehealth: Article By: Lisa English Hinkle The cost effectiveness of providing health care via telemedicine or telehealth promises to be an effective tool to increase coverage and reimbursement of healthcare provided remotely or through telehealth. Towers Watson, a national consulting company, recently published a 2014 […]
As the government continues to add Bills supporting Telehealth, we must wonder WHEN they will start passing those Bills: Written by Helen Gregg (Twitter | Google+) | September 24, 2014 A new bill that aims to provide additional incentives for accountable care organization successes includes several provisions that would allow ACOs to expand their telemedicine […]
The PROOF continues……. September 11, 2014 | By Katie Dvorak There are many uses for telemedicine to manage chronic diseases, and no matter the process, the technology offers beneficial results and costs reductions, according to a recent study. The study, published online in the journal Telemedicine and e-Health, looks at the impact telemedicine has on […]
August 07, 2014 | Eric Wicklund – Editor, mHealthNews A new Congressional effort seeks to expand telemedicine by allowing Medicare reimbursement for more treatments – and more people. The Medicare Telehealth Parity Act of 2014 was introduced in July by U.S. Reps. Mike Thompson (D-CA.) and Gregg Harper (R-MS). If passed into law, the expansion of telehealth services […]
It’s about time and the way that CMS is going to pay for Remote Patient Monitoring is, essentially, like this….. Services to be covered when provided by telehealth: Chronic Care Management ——————————— CMS is proposing reimbursement criteria for non-face-to-face chronic care management (CCM) services, defined as a unique, covered service designed to pay separately for […]
Is CMS FINALLY going to cover remote patient monitoring?? We may be one step closer… By: Jonah Comstock | Jul 23, 2014 Representatives Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) and Glenn Thompson (R-Penn.) are set to announce a new telehealth bill soon. Like some of Mike Thompson’s previous telehealth efforts, the bill seeks to amend the Title XVIII of the Social […]
It’s only a matter of time……… By Ephraim Schwartz, Contributing Editor The barriers that stand in the way of full-blown adoption of a modern and mobile remote healthcare system require not only advances in technology but a willingness on the part of the healthcare community to change at an institutional level. There is a palpable resistance […]
…… Eventually someone in government will listen……. June 9, 2014 | By Dan Bowman Saying they want to improve care coordination, several organizations are calling on the federal government to reimburse accountable care organizations for the use of telehealth and remote patient monitoring technologies. In three letters sent today to incoming U.S. Department of Health and […]
The obvious continues to become more obvious…… Friday, June 6, 2014 Doctors who practice in patient-centered medical homes and use electronic health record systems generally provide more recommended care than those who do not work in a PCMH and use paper or electronic records, according to a studypublished in the Annals of Internal Medicine, Health IT Analytics reports (Bresnick, Health […]
The proof is always in the pudding. How about THIS pudding….. May 27, 2014 | Eric Wicklund – Editor, mHealthNews Hospital systems looking for the value of a home-based monitoring program for discharged patients might be interested in a nine-month project undertaken by North Carolina-based Vidant Health. The health system, a nine-hospital, 70+-clinic network serving some 29 […]
Federal and state legislation on the use of telehealth has been a hot topic for lawmakers over the past year. BY BRIAN HEATON / MAY 20, 20140 The practice of telehealth has increased in recent years as physicians and patients have become more comfortable meeting through video conferencing and other digital means. But as electronic health practices have […]
Last Updated: April 25 2014 Article by Nathaniel M. Lacktman Foley & Lardner Tennessee has enacted legislation requiring commercial insurance payors to cover telehealth services. On April 14, 2014, Governor Bill Haslam signed into law HB 1895/SB 2050. Under the Tennessee law, a health insurance carrier: Must provide coverage under a health insurance policy or contract for covered […]
Published on FierceHealthIT (http://www.fiercehealthit.com) April 7, 2014 | By Susan D. Hall A framework for evaluating telehealth programs must consider socioeconomic aspects–not just the technological–argue researchers in an article published online in Telemedicine and e-Health. Costs, benefits, barriers and outcomes, including clinical outcomes, are among the integral socioeconomic factors at play in telehealth implementations, they say. The framework’s […]