To support the sudden increase in test results and medical records being transmitted during the pandemic, hospitals, laboratories, and pharmacies implemented additional devices and remote connections into their networks. After the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) lifted penalties around telehealth to expand care options amid the crisis, new platforms were adopted that were not previously allowed by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This exercise of discretion
Read More
Evaluating COVID-19’s Behavioral Health Impact on the Economy
We’re now in a new year and new presidential administration. At least three companies are producing effective COVID-19 vaccines, which are being administered to healthcare workers, teachers, and the elderly. By summer, hopefully a large majority of the population in most countries will be vaccinated. From where the world now stands, we can see an end to prolonged isolation, trauma, fear, grief, and economic torpor. But out of the woods, we are not. The virus mutates, perhaps
Read More
A New System to Fit A New Economy: How Healthcare Can Recover From COVID-19
We are at a watershed moment. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to reevaluate our priorities both economically and with regard to public health. Living with a healthcare system that was created in response to an emergency measure during World War II, US consumers have struggled for more than a decade to control and understand the rising cost of healthcare. Unfortunately, employer-based health insurance and government-subsidized care continue to be the major drivers of cost and policy. As
Read More
Capital BlueCross Taps NeuroFlow Support Member Mental Health
What You Should Know: - Capital BlueCross, a health insurer serving a 21-county region in Central Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley by offering health insurance products, services, and technology solutions has signed a partnership with tech-enabled behavioral health company Neuro Flow. - As part of its commitment to offering members the best
healthcare experience, Capital BlueCross has expanded its innovative
wellness resources to include a new mobile app focused on mental
Read More
Xealth’s CEO Shares Impact of Digital Health in 2020 and What’s Ahead in 2021
HIT Consultant sat down with Mike McSherry, CEO, and co-founder of Seattle-based digital prescription platform Xealth to discuss digital health lessons learned in 2020 and what we can expect in 2021. As Xealth’s CEO, Mike also works with Duke Health, UPMC, Atrium Health, and The Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin health network where he uses his background in digital health to connect patients and care teams outside of traditional care settings. HITC: In 2021, How can digital
Read More
4 Quick Tips for Getting COVID-19 Claims Paid Promptly
As the COVID-19 pandemic has gripped the world, many providers have adopted an all-hands-on-deck approach and mentality for treating COVID-19 patients, stretching their resources to the breaking point. We have heard about the frontline heroes who have sacrificed their own health and safety to treat patients and, in less-fortunate scenarios, comfort patients in their last moments as they were quarantined from loved ones. What has been less recognized is the work and sacrifice
Read More
Regence, MultiCare Health System to Deploy HL7 Da Vinci Member Attribution List for Value-Based Care Arrangements
What You Should Know: - Regence and MultiCare ink first-in-the-nation value-based
care partnership to deliver improved health outcomes at lower costs. Health insurance provider Regence
and MultiCare Health System,
an independent accountable
care organization (ACO) have partnered to deploy a first-in-the-nation value-based model
that delivers better health outcomes to members at lower costs while
simplifying administration for health care providers. Regence serves
approximately 3.1
Read More
Ensuring Telehealth Providers’ Virtual Care Dollars Make Sense
Telehealth and virtual care are not brand-new phenomena suddenly cobbled together as a rapid response to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the average US patient could be forgiven for thinking that it is. Indeed, virtual visits to care providers and remote patient monitoring have been available for quite some time, delivering two key benefits: - Providing a platform to address cost-efficiencies and accessibility to quality healthcare for the populace at large - Playing a
Read More
COVID-19: How Can Payers Prepare for Mandates and Support Pandemic Relief Efforts
Healthcare can achieve optimum efficiency when patients are at the center of care. When patients have the necessary information to navigate their care journey, they will choose the path to high-quality care at the lowest costs. Cost-sharing and insurance premiums are rising consistently since the last decade for employer plans, which covers nearly half of the country’s population. Plan members are shouldering a part of the healthcare cost burden, so they want to keep it as low as possible. At
Read More
COVID-19 and Racial Disparities: Transforming the Health of Businesses
American businesses and their leadership are at a crossroads. COVID-19 has forced us all to re-evaluate how we work and live, while the current protest movements have placed a spotlight on the systemic injustices non-white workers face both in and out of the office. Given that communities of color have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, companies serious about doing right by their employees need to act decisively and clearly or risk becoming complicit in the racial and social
Read More
