Teladoc loses $1.5M Highmark contract, sparks debate on pricing, utilization of telemedicine

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.

mobile health news

Why Telemedicine Is Not A “Internet of Things” Solution

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.

HITConsultant

 

 

 

TeleHealth Solutions, LLC

Telehealth bill brings reimbursement debate to center stage

The Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act, proposed February 3 by Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), has strong bipartisan support and would expand Medicare telehealth services, improve care outcomes and help cut costs for patients and providers. Other bill sponsors include Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), John Thune (R-SD), Mark Warner (D-Va.), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.),

Health Data Management

 

 

TeleHealth Solutions, LLC

Study shows high patient satisfaction with telemedicine-based care of sleep apnea

A new study suggests that telemedicine-based management for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is as effective and may be comparable to in-person care.

Results show that there was no significant difference in functional outcome changes, dropout rates, or objectively measured positive airway pressure (PAP) adherence between patients having an in-person physician visit or a clinical video telehealth (CVT) based visit at their initial evaluation. Participants reported high satisfaction with the telemedicine pathway, with all of them agreeing that the quality and content of their telemedicine visits were comparable to in-person visits. The most frequently mentioned advantages of telemedicine were decreased travel burden and greater convenience.

EurekAlert

 

 

TeleHealth Solutions, LLC

Enabling Better Access to Healthcare