A night doctor’s dilemma Five years ago, I was practicing medicine in a rural hospital in North Carolina as a nocturnist, when I received a call from an Emergency Room (ER) doctor. “Hey, it’s Blake. Room 7. Demented. UTI,” he says, and hangs up. I was struck by the abrupt and sparse communication—no detailed report. Not even a name. Charged with admitting and caring for patients, I head downstairs and find myself in room 7 where an elderly woman with a blown IV and no family around is
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Telemedicine | News, Analysis, Insights - HIT Consultant
The Combination of 5G and AI Will Transform Healthcare in 2021
Not many will disagree that the global pandemic has accelerated the use of technology in healthcare. With a healthcare system stressed to a breaking point, medical professionals have had to prioritize critical cases and increasingly turn to technology tools such as telemedicine and remote patient monitoring to manage the needs of their non-COVID patients. As we begin to look beyond the pandemic, we will not only have the lessons of this time but improved tools to support the delivery of
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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
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Concentra Transitions Telemed Offering from Amwell to eVisit Virtual Care Platform
What You Should Know: - Concentra recently transitioned their three-year-old Concentra Telemed® offering from Amwell to the eVisit Virtual Care platform. - The eVisit Virtual Care platform is supporting all of Concentra’s telemedicine requirements, including its industry-leading 24/7/365 Concentra Telemed offering and Concentra Telerehab®, conducting more than 8,000 virtual visits a month. - eVisit was founded six years ago and is already in use at more than 100
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IoMT Is Improving Patient Access: We Must Avoid Creating New Barriers
The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) is changing the face of healthcare and has the potential to significantly improve patient access as well as system efficiencies. The adoption of telemedicine, for example, spurred on by the Covid-19 pandemic, has spread rapidly. Forrester revised its forecasts to predict that virtual care visits in the United States will soar to more than one billion this year—including 900 million visits related to Covid-19 specifically. Likewise, in the United Kingdom,
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FCC Unveils 14 Initial Projects Selected for $100M Connected Care Pilot Program
What You Should Know: - FCC announces initial 14 pilot project selected for $100M Connected Care Pilot Program that will support connected care service across the country and focus on low-income and veteran patients. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today announced an initial set of 14 pilot projects with over 150 treatment sites in 11 states that have been selected for the Connected Care Pilot Program. A total of $26.6 million will be awarded to these applicants for
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Nuance Launches AI-Powered Patient Engagement Virtual Assistant Platform
What You Should Know: - Nuance Communications, Inc. launched an AI-powered patient engagement virtual assistant platform to transform omnichannel digital experiences for patients. - Healthcare provider organizations can now deploy a single, common cloud-based platform to support their entire patient journey across engagement channels using Nuance's market-leading Intelligent Engagement AI technology - The launch comes as patients increasingly expect the same level of engaging
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Behavioral Health Services Fueled Telehealth Adoption During Pandemic, Study Finds
What You Should Know: - Telehealth adoption for behavioral health services jumped sharply during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, according to a new RAND Corporation study. Telehealth adoption increased sharply during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, with the approach being used more often for behavioral health services than for medical care, according to a new RAND Corporation study. Prior to the
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TigerConnect Acquires Hospital Middleware Solution Critical Alert – M&A
What You Should Know: - TigerConnect has announced an expansion in their suite through the acquisition of Critical Alert, a leading provider of enterprise-grade middleware for hospitals and health systems. - For the hundreds of thousands of nurses that currently use TigerConnect, these new capabilities will deliver real-time, contextual information to their mobile device or desktop to allow them to work smarter, prioritize responses, and efficiently coordinate care, all within the
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Advanced ICU Care Rebrands as Hicuity Health
What You Should Know: - Advanced ICU Care, has announced a corporate name change to Hicuity Health. The new brand more accurately reflects the organization’s evolving portfolio of advanced telemedicine services and future expansion of its solution offerings. - The updated branding will support Hicuity Health’s continuing expansion of its inpatient telemedicine solution offerings, with each new service line focused on aiding partner hospitals in improving patient health while also
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