telemedicine is the use of medical information exchanged from one site to another via electronic communications to improve a patient’s clinical health status
MidMichigan Health was awarded a $494,900 rural telemedicine grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The grant will be used to expand specialty medical services into rural areas of need. The grant will benefit residents across Clare, Gladwin, Gratiot, Isabella, Midland, Ogemaw, Roscommon and Huron counties. MidMichigan’s project was one of three selected in Michigan and one of 75 awarded nationwide.
A new survey finds those using telemedicine like the platform for its cost and convenience – but many more aren’t using it or don’t even know it exists.
More than half of the respondents in a new survey say they wouldn’t use telemedicine, either because they don’t trust the technology or they prefer an in-person visit. Yet more than 90 percent of those who have used telemedicine say it has reduced their healthcare costs.
Health information technology is a significant tool that drives the manner in which hospitals, health systems and payers do business today, from both a marketplace and regulatory perspective. Federal rules and regulations mandate that providers comply with a host of billing, patient privacy/safety and Meaningful Use standards. For instance, with the recent implementation of the ICD-10 diagnostic codes, providers allocated tremendous financial and personnel resources to ensure regulatory compliance; electronic health record (EHR) interoperability facilitates the efficient flow of communication and information updates vital to a patient’s health; health IT and new digital apps have transformed the manner in which providers deliver care to patients; and health IT plays a vital role in advancing an organization’s revenue cycle management processes to reach financial and business goals.
A majority of health care professionals say telemedicine is now a high priority for their organizations, and is already providing a measurable return on investment (ROI), according to an Aeris survey of more than 150 health care professionals.
The Iowa House of Representatives approved a bill Wednesday that would make it easier for rural towns to set up tele-pharmacies.
The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs’ use of telemedicine to treat patients at its Vermont hospital at White River Junction resulted in an average travel payment savings of $18,555 per year between 2005 and 2013, according to a study published in the journal Telemedicine and e-Health.
Even as Teladoc and American Well fight out their legal battle over patents, the two companies continue to duke it out in the marketplace as well, as does another challenger, Doctor on Demand. On Friday a Deutsche Bank analyst broke the news in a research note that Highmark, a health insurer in Western Pennsylvania, chose not renew contracts that represented $1.5 million in annual revenue for Teladoc, or 3.6 percent of Teladoc’s projected 2016 membership, according to the Wall Street Journal.
A Texas-based health system is seeking strong success in a small school-based telehealth program by following one simple rule: “Don’t have a hammer and go searching for a nail.”
In other words, says S. Luke Webster, MD, vice president and CMIO of CHRISTUS Health, use what you have to address a specific need, and then branch out from there.
As telemedicine teeters on the edge of an explosive state of expansion, so many questions come to mind, including how it will transform healthcare delivery as we know it. With value-based reimbursement and a push to serve the underserved growing in the U.S, telemedicine stands to gain a lot of traction and quickly. Still, it’s important to remember the flesh and blood human elements driving this transitive development of reform.
A federal bankruptcy court in Columbus, Ohio, has approved a plan for failed telemedicine vendor HealthSpot to sell off its assets. Dublin, Ohio-based Healthspot chose to liquidate under Chapter 7 of bankruptcy law rather than reorganize under Chapter 11.