Social isolation and loneliness among older adults are common and far-reaching issues that have been linked to serious health concerns including depression, cognitive decline, and poor physical health. A recent study found 52 percent of older adults age 65 and older experience feelings of loneliness a few times a year, and 21 percent reported feeling lonely every day. With evidence of social isolation and loneliness among older adults being as unhealthy as smoking 15 cigarettes per day, this is
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Telehealth Services
3 Telehealth Lessons Learned from COVID-19 Pandemic
Although the concept of telehealth has existed for decades, it’s been relatively slow to catch on. Getting patients to feel comfortable with the idea of online care—and finding medical professionals who felt confident about conducting their work in a remote setting—has not been easy. Even with willing participants and infrastructure in place, bureaucratic red tape meant providers faced an uphill battle when it came to legally treating patients and being reimbursed for their virtual care. As
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Deploying a Telehealth Strategy to Mitigate the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Only weeks ago, American doctors’ waiting rooms were bustling with patients of all ages. This was no surprise as it is estimated that in an average year the U.S. healthcare system provided an estimated 278 office-based physician visits per 100 persons, for a total of approximately 883 million visits per year. Chronic conditions were the major reason for 37% of all office-based physician visits, and visits for chronic conditions were predictably higher among adults than children. In the
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MassHealth Provides Free Telehealth Services for Women and Families During COVID-19 Pandemic
What You Should Know: - Maven, the largest telemedicine provider for women’s and family health, announced a new partnership with MassHealth, the Massachusetts, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. - MassHealth will provide free telemedicine appointments for members with COVID-19 symptoms with Maven’s network of obstetric/gynecologists, maternal fetal medicine specialists, pediatricians, family physicians, and general practitioners for women and families in
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FCC Chairman Unveils $200 Million COVID-19 Telehealth Program
- FCC new program would provide immediate support to healthcare facilities and patients across the country; separate connected care pilot program would study long-term role of telehealth. - The $200 million Program would immediately support healthcare providers responding to the pandemic by providing eligible healthcare providers support to purchase telecommunications services, information services. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai today announced his plan for a
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COVID-19 Spikes Deaconess Health Adoption of Remote Medical Exams
What You Should Know: Tyto Care and Deaconess Health System announced its expanded integration partnership to help stem the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). Tyto Care’s TytoHome telehealth device enables
Deaconess patients to perform comprehensive physical examinations with a
Deaconess Care Provider from the comfort of home reducing the risk of spreading
the coronavirus and limiting the pressures facing emergency rooms and clinics. Since the COVID-19
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Innovaccer Launches Free COVID-19 Management System to Support Early Community-Based Triage
What You Should Know: - In order to assist providers in managing their influx and connect with more patients, Innovaccer has launched the free ‘COVID-19 Management System application with free telehealth services and analytics to assess risk profiles and triage the influx at medical practices and primary care clinics - The application is designed to assist government and healthcare organizations in providing immediate assistance to patients through remote assessments, monitoring,
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Charges for All Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients May Reach Up to $1.4 Trillion
What You
Should Know: - FAIR Health brief finds the total costs for all hospitalized COVID-19 patients range from a low of $362 billion in charges and $139 billion in estimated allowed amounts to a high of $1.449 trillion in charges and $558 billion in estimated allowed amounts, depending on the incidence rate of the infection in the US population. - The total average charge per COVID-19 patient requiring an inpatient stay is $73,300 and the total average estimated allowed amount per
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COVID-19’s Impact on Telehealth & HIPAA Regulations
The declaration of COVID19 as a pandemic and the United States declaring a national emergency to help contain and enhance treatment access have resulted in a number of changes to ease potential regulatory burdens or barriers in healthcare. Like so much happening as a result of the pandemic, the changes have the potential to fundamentally change the healthcare industry not just during the time of the emergency declaration. Of particular note are coordinated announcements from various agencies
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COVID-19: Why Limited HIPAA Waivers from HHS Don’t Do Enough To Address Telehealth
What You Need to Know: - HHS issued some very limited HIPAA waivers to combat COVID-19999, but experts say it leaves out some very key guidance when it comes to telehealth. - Alissa Smith, Partner at Dorsey & Whitney says the HHS is likely going to have to revisit this issue given the limited waivers issued this week. The main thing I am hearing from my health care provider clients is that they are seeking HIPAA-related guidance
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