Tag: Pandemic

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

Healthcare IT news

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

Healthcare IT news

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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Bipartisan House bill proposes permanent telehealth benefits

Bipartisan House bill proposes permanent telehealth benefits

Healthcare IT news

The Telehealth Benefit Expansion for Workers Act would amend the Public Health Service Act, the Employee Retirement Income and Security Act of 1974 and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow employers to treat benefits for telehealth services like excepted benefits.WHY IT MATTERS
The bill aims to keep stand-alone telehealth benefits separate, not as a replacement of medical plans, offering them under a group health plan or group health insurance coverage as excepted benefits.
An excepted benefit allows employers to finance additional medical care, like vision or dental coverage, according to theCenters for Medicare & Medicaid Services FAQsfor insurance agents and brokers, requiring Congress…

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Cosmos, Epic's massive EHR analytics platform, helps reduce new mother readmissions

Cosmos, Epic’s massive EHR analytics platform, helps reduce new mother readmissions

Healthcare IT news

Nearly 20% of postpartum patients in America develop high blood pressure; Epic Research just found in a new study that postpartum hypertension nearly triples the chances of rehospitalization.After looking at more than 1.2 million birth encounters and then grouping and comparing the highest blood pressure readings taken in the 24 hours after discharge, the study found:

Patients with blood pressure levels at or above 160/110 shortly before discharge are nearly three times more likely to be readmitted than patients with normal blood pressure readings.

More than 5% of postpartum patients with the highest blood pressure readings, equal to or greater than 160/110 mmHg,…

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Intermountain and Story Health partner on specialty care for heart failure

Intermountain and Story Health partner on specialty care for heart failure

Healthcare IT news

Intermountain Health is looking to artificial intelligence and high-touch coaching to increase care personalization and medication adherence for patients with heart failure.WHY IT MATTERS 
Coaches from Story Health, which helps develop personalized care plans using clinical data, will be available to answer Intermountain patients’ questions via text or call. They’ll also remind them about essential medication changes and ensure that vascular patients have access to the medications they need between visits.
“Patients have long journeys with their health, and a significant part of that journey takes place after they leave the clinician’s office,” said Tom Stanis, CEO and cofounder of Story Health, in…

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Australian Health Dep't failed to manage risks in expanding telehealth: state auditor

Australian Health Dep’t failed to manage risks in expanding telehealth: state auditor

Healthcare IT news

The Australian National Audit Office has conducted a review of the expansion of telehealth services across the country by the Department of Health and Aged Care in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.FINDINGS
Based on the state audit, the department fell short in governance, risk management, and evaluation of the telehealth expansion. 
While it made “significant” changes to the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS), the expanded telehealth services were “only partly supported by sound implementation arrangements.” 
The audit found that it did not require key implementation decisions and plans to be documented. 
It was also noted that the department did not manage implementation risks associated with temporary…

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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

Healthcare IT news

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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Orlando Health to launch AI-driven hospital-at-home services

Orlando Health to launch AI-driven hospital-at-home services

Healthcare IT news

Data from the new hospital-at-home platform will be accessible through Orlando Health’s Epic electronic health records through a multiyear agreement with the connected health and digital therapeutics company.WHY IT MATTERS
Orlando Health – a nonprofit health system with 18 hospitals and emergency rooms, with five in development, serving the southeastern United States – is expected to launch the new advanced remote patient monitoring capabilities in early 2023.
Adding a virtual provider network can improve patient outcomes, prevent hospital readmissions, accelerate drug development and close critical gaps in care, according to the Biofourmis announcement. 
The data-driven platform takes physiological signal data from patient sensors – like…

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Geisinger solves behavioral health access problem with telemedicine

Geisinger solves behavioral health access problem with telemedicine

Healthcare IT news

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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