As Doctors And Patients Take To Telehealth, Pressure Mounts For Option To Be Allowed Even After Crisis
Regulatory restrictions that previously limited the use of virtual appointments have been temporarily lifted during the coronavirus pandemic. Many in the industry want that change to become permanent as more health systems and medical personnel adopt the technology.
Politico:
Why Virtual Care Will Outlast The Pandemic
An explosion of virtual care during the pandemic is raising expectations that Washington will make sure Americans can continue video chatting with their doctors after the health crisis subsides. Telehealth had been inching ahead for quite a few years, but it remained a niche industry amid a thicket of regulatory restrictions designed to combat potential fraud and high costs. That was until the pandemic hit and the Trump administration swiftly — though temporarily — knocked down many of those barriers, with states and private health insurers also expanding coverage of virtual care. (Ravindranath, 6/12)
Modern Healthcare:
Bill Would Permanently Boost Medicare Telemedicine Pay For Health Centers
A bipartisan duo of lawmakers on Thursday introduced a bill to make Medicare reimbursement permanent for some telemedicine services. Telemedicine has experienced substantial growth in response to the coronavirus outbreak, helped by a host of regulatory flexibilities from Medicare. Healthcare providers have voiced concern that those flexibilities expire with the public health emergency, and have said they want to see actions like expanded Medicare reimbursement continue after the outbreak subsides. (Cohen, 6/12)
Houston Chronicle:
Houston’s Health Care Systems Turn To Telemedicine To Meet Medical Needs
In the span of two short months, getting to a doctor’s appointment has changed from ducking out of the office at midday and fighting traffic to launching a video app on a computer or smartphone for a consultation. The coronavirus pandemic, as it has with shopping, office work and socializing, is accelerating the adoption of technologies in the health care industry that allow people to conduct business and connect without leaving their homes — or wherever else they happen to be. While telemedicine has been around for years, the necessity of providing medical care over the internet to comply with social distancing measures has eroded resistance to it. (Wu, 6/13)
Modern Healthcare:
Online Training Helps Redeployed Nurses Get Up-To-Speed On COVID-19
Launched April 13, Project Florence is designed to help train nurses on skills specifically needed to care for COVID-19 patients. It supplements the training and mentoring from senior nurses and specialists that a nurse would receive if they had no critical-care experience. Project Florence targeted a core challenge: the tendency to use a one-size-fits-all approach when expanding training for large groups, said Diane Adams, chief learning officer at Mount Sinai. (Cohen, 6/13)