Page 29 Telehealth and Remote Patient Monitoring RPM for Long Termand Post Acute Care A Primer and Provider Selection Guide 2013

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7 Planning for TelehealTh and The following areas should be considered as part of
rPm soluTions an organization’s initial vision and strategic plan-
ning:
Telehealth and RPM technologies help manage and
monitor health conditions to improve the care of • Care Setting and Business Goals
chronically ill patients and people who have trouble Visioning and planning process starts with
accessing care. Initiating, expanding or integrating understanding the care settings in which the
telehealth as a service is complex and begins with organization is considering implementing
understanding organizational strategic goals and vi- telehealth and RPM vis-à-vis the strategic and
sion for a telehealth program in order to strategical- business goals of the organization. The setting
ly plan for this initiative. The next step is evaluating will have implications on the availability
operational readiness and conducting operational of professional caregivers, the technologies
planning, followed by due diligence in selecting a that fit the setting and operational needs, the
vendor partner with experience in strategic plan- characteristics of the patient/user population,
ning, program design and ongoing program devel- and operational, care and business model for
opment to support unique organizational goals and the telehealth initiatives. For example, the
needs to help ensure success. organization’s strategic goals may be making
their skilled nursing facility a strategic partner
and a preferred discharge destination to
7.1 Visioning and Strategic Planning the local hospital, or offering cost-effective
home health services into the broader local
Visioning and strategic planning is a key founda- community.
tional step to the success of a telehealth program.
Telehealth should be viewed as a tool to achieve • Target Population
specific organizational goals and part of a well- Have a vision for the population that will be
founded overall organizational strategy. Getting impacted by telehealth program. Different
true value from telehealth comes from the orga- targeted patient populations should have
nization’s ability to align the telehealth and RPM different telehealth solutions, care delivery
initiatives with the organizational strategic goals, and support services. When it comes to
understand their operational needs, set operational telehealth, one size does not fit all and having
goals, engage all stakeholders, including strategic the flexibility to match proper technology
care partners (e.g., hospitals and physician groups), to the targeted patient population is a key
and plan for such an initiative ensuring that the factor to success. It is important to stratify the
plan is realistic in terms of timeline and resources. population, based on health condition, acuity,
Then selecting and implementing one or more of risk, utilization of health care services, etc.
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the numerous types of telehealth and RPM tech- Examples of target patient populations that
nologies and solutions. should receive different types of technology
may include patients who are high-risk, with

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