Page 6 Shaping Your Telehealth Strategy 2014 Ernst & Young LLP

Exhibit 4. Sample metrics for gauging telehealth program success diseases under control or improving public
health statewide.
Extending expertise and integrated Enriching the customer experience • Organizational alignment. Assess how
service delivery Patient measures: your telehealth program aligns with your
organization’s overall mission, vision, values
Number of: • Access and culture.
• Referrals • Reported technology comfort and adoption Assess your capabilities against market
• Remote site locations • Trust and satisfaction opportunities.
• Telehealth patients served 3. Design your telehealth program
Leveraging the input of a multidisciplinary group
of stakeholders, detail all dimensions of your
telehealth program, including:
Expanding portfolio of integrated services Enhancing profi tability • Governance. Establish a governance structure,
Number of: Improvements in: including where clinical and operational
oversight resides and who is accountable for
• New telehealth patients • Telehealth revenue telehealth fi nancial performance.
• Tertiary referrals • Readmission rates • Revenue model. Defi ne payment type,
• Service lines and telehealth consults by • Population health management reimbursement level and value proposition.
service line Determine which services are reimbursable
through Medicare, Medicaid and private
insurance. Consider other potential funding
sources, such as federal or state grants that
Source: EY, 2014. fund telehealth programs, foundations that fund
innovative projects and vendors, or developers
willing to fi nance telehealth expansion. Create a
plan for long-term fi nancial sustainability.
Federal guidelines for mobile health apps • Human resources. Determine the number
In late September 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued fi nal guidelines for and kinds of staff needed to deliver telehealth
mobile health apps, outlining the apps that the regulations will affect and the requirements those services, as well as a plan for staff support,
apps must meet to achieve FDA approval. such as physician champions who can promote
program benefi ts to their peers.
The FDA’s approach focuses on regulating apps that carry signifi cant risks if they do not operate • Processes and policies. Develop standardized
correctly — for example, those that enable a physician to make a diagnosis by smartphone or processes and policies that facilitate high-
tablet, or that transform a smartphone into an electrocardiography machine to detect abnormal quality, effi cient care, incorporating telehealth
heart rhythms. as much as possible into current standards to
The app is considered a device if its intention is to diagnose, treat or prevent disease, or affect the encourage easier adoption.
function of the body. Apps that are an extension of medical devices, such as the remote display of • Technology. Identify technology solutions to
data from bedside monitors, are also subject to regulation. enable telehealth service delivery. Determine
The two categories of apps that will not be regulated are apps that 1) are not medical devices and the features of telehealth technology that will
meet your clinical service needs and business
2) might meet the defi nition of a medical device but pose low risk to the public. Apps that will not be plan. Consider:
regulated include those that help patients: • Specialized telehealth technologies for
• Manage their diseases or conditions without providing specifi c treatment such activities as telemonitoring, remote
• Organize and track their health information diagnostics and remote robotics
• Easily access information on their health conditions or treatments • General digital solutions that will enhance and
• Document, show or communicate potential medical conditions to health care providers facilitate your core connected capabilities,
such as mobility solutions, patient portals and
Also unregulated are apps for providers that automate simple tasks and enable providers and call centers
patients to interact with personal health record or EHR systems.
• IT infrastructure needed to support telehealth
and digital solutions — consider network

6 Health Care Industry Post News and analysis of current issues affecting health care providers and payers