Talkspace Launches New Mental Health Portal for Employers

Talkspace Launches New Mental Health Portal for Employers

Virtual behavioral health provider Talkspace unveiled a new product Thursday that provides employers with access to a library of mental health resources that they can share with employees.
New York City-based Talkspace serves employers, payers and consumers, and provides self-guided mental health programs, therapy and psychiatry. Its new product, Talkspace Engage, aims to help employers promote their mental health benefits to their employees, a challenge that many companies struggle with, said Erin Boyd, chief growth officer of enterprise at Talkspace. “One resounding common theme that we heard among [employers] was that, ‘I don’t know how to get people to use these benefits…

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Retail disruptors face big strategy questions in 2023, says AHA

Retail disruptors face big strategy questions in 2023, says AHA

A new report from the American Hospital Association Center for Health Innovation explores how retail companies and tech giants like Apple and Google will drive transformational change in healthcare delivery in 2023 and beyond.WHY IT MATTERS
With billions of dollars invested this past year, such as CVS Health’s purchase of Signify Health, the AHA report highlights retail healthcare companies having grabbed significant market share in primary care, concierge medicine, virtual care and in-home medical services. 
They’ve also broadened their reach into pharmacy benefits management, behavioral health and other areas, said AHA researchers in the report.
One example is Amazon. While the company is in the process of buying…

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BCBS Tennessee Unveils Health Disparities in First Health Equity Report

BCBS Tennessee Unveils Health Disparities in First Health Equity Report

BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee unveiled its first Health Equity Report Tuesday, which analyzed six topics of health disparities: behavioral health, cancer, child and adolescent care, chronic condition management, Covid-19 and maternal health.
The report serves as a way to understand the inequities that exist among its members to determine ways the payer can address the disparities, said Dr. Andrea Willis, chief medical officer of BCBS Tennessee. “We wanted to get a better picture of the health issues and barriers to care faced by our members and Tennesseans as a whole, so that we could more effectively partner with health care providers to…

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How Healthcare Organizations Can Enhance Patient Experience & Trust During the Winter Surge

How Healthcare Organizations Can Enhance Patient Experience & Trust During the Winter Surge

Toni Land, Head of Clinical Healthcare Experience at MedalliaIt’s well known that the winter season typically creates spikes in illness and, consequently, a surge in healthcare visits. What might not be so obvious is that this time of increased demand is also the ideal opportunity for healthcare organizations to prioritize building trust and improving experiences for patients, clinicians and team members. Just as science grows more sophisticated each year, allowing practitioners to better treat a greater number of medical ailments, so should patient and team member experience efforts within the healthcare sector. That’s all the more true as the country now navigates…

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Virtual care system designed for COVID-19 grows into a multiuse digital health tool

Virtual care system designed for COVID-19 grows into a multiuse digital health tool

In 2019, Cleveland-based University Hospitals saw an opportunity to use automation and digital care technologies to improve patient engagement, clinical care and outcomes.THE PROBLEM
Ultimately, the health system was looking for ways to improve patient engagement first and foremost and then wanted to see how it could use automated tools to improve outcomes.
It also recognized the foundational changes occurring in the health system – especially when it came to consumer behavior and increased competition from nontraditional healthcare disruptors. The organization wanted to offer its patients tools and options that support their personal healthcare journeys in these ways.
PROPOSAL
“We implemented Amwell Automated Care Programs…

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Virtual care enables BrightView Health to increase outpatient access

Virtual care enables BrightView Health to increase outpatient access

BrightView Health, a behavioral health facility that specializes in addiction treatment and substance abuse, already was using telehealth when the COVID-19 pandemic and associated response happened. The organization mostly was using telehealth between its various locations.THE PROBLEM
However, BrightView did not have a secure communications platform to engage with patients either synchronously or asynchronously.
“So, the pandemic and the lockdowns created some potential gaps in access to care that we needed to predict and fill,” said Navdeep S. Kang, chief clinical officer at BrightView Health and a fellow with the Obama Foundation. “We looked at several platforms to implement secure communications.
“We were specifically interested…

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Remote therapeutic monitoring is reimbursable – here's what you need to know

Remote therapeutic monitoring is reimbursable – here’s what you need to know

Ever since CMS released the new CPT codes for remote therapeutic monitoring last year, health systems have been eager to use them, but unsure of the criteria. Providers are acknowledged for the time they spend connecting with patients outside of the office.With the new CPT codes, providers can get reimbursed for:

Educating patients on how to use a remote care-management platform.

Monitoring a platform’s alerts and patients’ use of remote education.

Direct patient/provider messaging within the platform.

Data collection via the platform, i.e., collecting patient feedback on pain levels, activity and motion.

To qualify for reimbursable RTM, providers need to use software deemed a medical device…

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Gaming tech is being used for dementia treatment

Gaming tech is being used for dementia treatment

Research shows that apathy is a significant challenge for people living with dementia. They lose the ability to take initiative, which has an enormous effect on their emotional and physical wellbeing. This makes the disorder much harder to treat.THE PROBLEM
Andrus on Hudson, based in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, serves and cares for individuals (“residents,” to reflect the environment in which they receive care) who have various types of dementia. One of the primary challenges caregivers and residents face are negative behaviors that occur when there are downtimes during the day and/or the sundown window.
These negative behaviors include agitation and wandering. While AOH uses…

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Geisinger solves behavioral health access problem with telemedicine

Geisinger solves behavioral health access problem with telemedicine

Benjamin C. Gonzales, operations manager II, virtual care, at Geisinger, said the prominent health system has faced a problem that is the biggest problem in behavioral healthcare: access. And while Geisinger’s population certainly has experienced its own challenges with behavioral health access like other communities, the problem has been significantly compounded by three things.THE PROBLEM
“First and most obvious, the pandemic,” Gonzales stated. “Unsurprisingly, we experienced a surge in demand much like other specialties in our system. Before the pandemic, it was common for our department to have a couple hundred outstanding referrals.
“We quickly saw that increase to a maximum of 19,000…

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