Report and 10 recommendations about pediatric telemedicine use by American Academy of Pediatrics

Policy statement to describe the expected and potential impact that telemedicine will have on pediatric physicians’ efforts to improve access and physician workforce shortages. The policy statement also describes how the American Academy of Pediatrics can advocate for its members and their patients to best use telemedicine technologies to improve access to care...Read More

Health industry resists safety protocols to protect worker injuries

A new report from the advocacy group Public Citizen says that hospital executives and administrators have no plan of action for lowering the staggering rate of on-the-job injuries for nurses. Furthermore, institutions appear to resist any government attempt to regulate the industry from the outside.
To learn more:
- here's the announcement
- read the report (.pdf)
- check out the memo
- here's the NPR article

RELEASED: New Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for 2016

The proposed Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for FY 2016 was released today. After a quick read, some of the telehealth highlights are:

CMS proposes reimbursing these additional codes if the service is delivered via telehealth:

99356 & 99357 – both are under prolong service in the inpatient or observation setting requiring unit/floor time beyond the usual service

CMS also proposes adding the following end-stage renal disease codes: 90963, 90964, 90965, 90966 (the different codes go for different age groups). These codes are ESRD related services for home dialysis per full month.

Additionally, they’re adding “Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists as Practitioners for Telehealth Services” to the list of eligible providers. CRNAs  Read More

Smartphones Detrimental to Learning for First-Time Users

"Previous studies have provided ample evidence that when smartphones are used with specific learning objects in mind, they can significantly enhance the learning experience," Kortum said. "However, our research clearly demonstrates that simply providing access to a smartphone, without specific directed learning activities, may actually be detrimental to the overall learning process."Read More

First-time smartphone users in a recent Rice University and U.S. Air Force study found that the devices were actually detrimental to their ability to learn. - See more at: http://www.eduwire.com/technology/study-smartphones-detrimental-to-learning-for-first-time-users/#sthash.jM3Hb8m0.dpuf

First-time smartphone users in a recent Rice University and U.S. Air Force study found that the devices were actually detrimental to their ability to learn. - See more at: http://www.eduwire.com/technology/study-smartphones-detrimental-to-learning-for-first-time-users/#sthash.jM3Hb8m0.dpuf

Almost 70% of Doctors Prefer Telemedicine Services Over Email

The latest countrywide survey from QuantiaMD and American Well shows that 57 percent of doctors are interested and willing to operate video visits with patients. Based on a poll of more than 2,000 primary care doctors, the results clearly show that telemedicine services are gaining popularity throughout the healthcare industry.
The survey - called “Telehealth Index: 2015 Physician Survey” – found that nearly 70 percent of physicians find video visits superior to either email or telephone calls when it comes to diagnosing a patient’s health issue.
Read More

Connecticut joined the ranks of the 28 U.S. states that have laws governing telemedicine reimbursement

amdtelemedicine.com Telemedicine has been around for decades, but it's only been in recent years that the practice has established a foothold in health care...Read More

Related Articles

• Increasing state reimbursement makes telemedicine even easier
  July 6, 2015
• What is the role of telemedicine in long-term care facilities?
  July 2, 2015
• How telemedicine can help students and school-based clinicians
  June 26, 2015

- See more at: http://amdtelemedicine.com/blog/article/increasing-state-reimbursement-makes-telemedicine-even-easier?sthash.Wc9aDQ2z.mjjo#sthash.Wc9aDQ2z.Vf9I5RQA.dpuf

in the day-to-day of mainstream medical practice. While technological development has had a significant hand in this, with modern communication technology such as video conferencing and cloud computing only emerging in the past five years or so, another significant hurdle telemedicine has faced has been financial. - See more at: http://amdtelemedicine.com/blog/article/increasing-state-reimbursement-makes-telemedicine-even-easier?sthash.Wc9aDQ2z.mjjo#sthash.Wc9aDQ2z.Vf9I5RQA.dpuf

in the day-to-day of mainstream medical practice. While technological development has had a significant hand in this, with modern communication technology such as video conferencing and cloud computing only emerging in the past five years or so, another significant hurdle telemedicine has faced has been financial. - See more at: http://amdtelemedicine.com/blog/article/increasing-state-reimbursement-makes-telemedicine-even-easier?sthash.Wc9aDQ2z.mjjo#sthash.Wc9aDQ2z.Vf9I5RQA.dpuf

in the day-to-day of mainstream medical practice. While technological development has had a significant hand in this, with modern communication technology such as video conferencing and cloud computing only emerging in the past five years or so, another significant hurdle telemedicine has faced has been financial. - See more at: http://amdtelemedicine.com/blog/article/increasing-state-reimbursement-makes-telemedicine-even-easier?sthash.Wc9aDQ2z.mjjo#sthash.Wc9aDQ2z.Vf9I5RQA.dpuf

Virtual Doctor’s Visits Are Rare for Seniors on Medicare

“Medicare beneficiaries are paying a huge price” for not having this benefit, said Jay Wolfson, a professor of public health, medicine and pharmacy at the University of South Florida in Tampa. For example, he said, telemedicine could help seniors with follow-up appointments that might be missed because of transportation problems. Read More

Cost fears keep Medicare telemedicine from expanding

Nearly 20 years after videoconferencing technology has been available for health services, fewer than 1 percent of Medicare beneficiaries use it, in part because Congress has placed restrictions on it. Read More

Few Nursing Homes Use Health IT for External Communication

A new CMS-funded study finds that while nursing homes have the technology to support patient care tasks, few use the tools to communicate with external facilities, such as hospitals and off-site pharmacies. The study shows health IT in nursing homes was commonly used for in-house tasks, such as appointment scheduling and admissions. FierceHealthIT, Applied Clinical Informatics.  Read More

Johns Hopkins releases ethics report for modern-day nurses

Education, policy development key to creating more ethical nursing environment...Nurses in every setting from hospitals to homecare face ethical pressures that arise from various situations that can contribute to problems in access to care, and that prevent nurses from practicing in accordance with their values, according to the report, "A Blueprint for 21th Century Nursing Ethics: Report of the National Nursing Summit." It examines four areas: clinical practice, nursing education, nursing research and nursing policy.  Read More

Uninsured patients turn to the ER for dental problems

Without insurance that covers dental care, more patients than ever seek care in hospital emergency rooms (ERs), according to a USA Today report.  There's a big gap in coverage, as the Affordable Care Act requires health plans to cover dental services for children but not adults. Medicare generally does not cover dental care and Medicaid coverage for adults varies by state and may only cover a limited list of dental services. Read More

Study: Tablet, app use does not improve patient knowledge of care

Supplying patients with tools such as tablets and patient portal apps does not have a great impact on their understanding of their care and treatment, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.  Other pilot programs show other results:

Penn Medicine is using an app and a tablet to cut readmission rates for heart failure patients in its Penn Care at Home program; that effort has sliced congestive heart failure readmission rates by 53 percent, according to an announcement.
Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York is also seeing success with its apps, with one developed for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease and another that allows physicians in the Mount Sinai Doctors Faculty Practice to offer consultations using a secure digital connection via smartphones.
However, research published by the Commonwealth Foundation found that while mobile devices providing patient-centered technology actively engage patients in care, evidence of effectiveness in improving health-related outcomes is limited. In addition, "providers have not been able to effectively leverage technology tools" to improve population health and care delivery.
Read More

Direct Messaging Benefits Outweigh Costs, Survey Finds

A new Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society survey finds most health information organizations support the use of Direct messaging, and about half say the benefits of such technology outweigh the associated costs. Health Data Management et al.
Read More

NATO Working To Develop Global Emergency Telemedicine Platform

NATO leaders are working to develop a multinational telemedicine platform that can help provide medical care during natural or man-made disasters and reduce the amount of resources needed for volunteers on the ground. AP/Modern Healthcare, mHealthNews. Read More

Report Identifies Five Health IT Trends for Health Care Systems

A new Accenture report identifies five health IT trends that likely will shape the future of the U.S. health care industry. The trends include a focus on data, personalized medicine, mobile platforms, interoperability and digital tools. Healthcare IT News, MobiHealthNews.
Read More

"The Patient Will See You Now" concept vs 2.6 week avg wait time to see a primary care doc

Topol: Challenges around data hold up the democratization of medicine 

mobihealthnews.com•Dr. Eric Topol’s newest book is called “The Patient Will See You Now.” At BIO during his keynote talk, a whirlwind overview of the digital health space, Topol freely acknowledged that he wasn’t the first person to riff on that phrase. Read More

Patients telling healthcare to move, or get out of the way

Shift—or get out of the way toward better patient healthcare

Today’s patients are tech-savvy consumers who are calling the shots about their own healthcare, demanding a whole new level of patient engagement. Read More

FDA taps PatientsLikeMe to test the waters of social media adverse event reporting

Online patient community PatientsLikeMe has found another partner for its massive repository of patient-generated data on health conditions and treatments, but it’s not another pharma company or retail pharmacy. PatientsLikeMe has announced a research partnership with the FDA: The agency will assess the platform’s feasibility as a way to generate adverse event reports, which the FDA uses to regulate drugs after their release into the market.  Read More  

Nurses tap their own smarphones to improve care, boost efficiency

A majority of nurses who responded to a recent survey say they are using their own tablets, mobile phones and other similar tools daily at work. 
While some providers are deploying health apps to their nursing staffs, many nurses are finding the tools on their own through online searches, the survey, conducted by InCrowd, finds. The company surveyed 241 nurses in May for the report, according to an announcement. Read More

What Will EHRs Look Like in 2020?

What Will EHRs Look Like in 2020?

Ken Terry

June 08, 2015

Electronic health record (EHR) systems need to be reimagined and reengineered to meet the challenges of the next several years, according to a new report from the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) on the status and future direction of EHRs. The report was published online May 29 in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.  Read More 

AMA Adopts Health IT-Related Policies at Annual Meeting

	During the American Medical Association's annual meeting yesterday, the physician group adopted several policies related to health IT, including recommendations for training medical students on how to use electronic health records and a plan to transition to the new ICD-10 code sets. Health Data Management et al.Read More

How The Internet of Things Will Affect Health Care

Devices everywhere talking to devices anywhere could radically change health care.

Welcome to the Internet of Things (IoT). Anything that has the potential to have a sensor can communicate to anything else that has a sensor. Moreover, analytics that are "watching" the stream of sensor data can orchestrate activity; for example, sensors on cars that indicate a traffic gridlock can lead to analytics changing the traffic light sequence. If that sounds a little too Orwellian for you, imagine the tremendous benefits from a health and welfare perspective.  Read More

ONC Finds Disparities in Accessibility, Use of Health IT in 2013

An Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT data brief based on a 2013 survey reveals disparities in the accessibility and use of health IT. For example, the data brief shows individuals' use of health IT varied by race, income and education. Health Data Management, ONC data brief. Read More

Teens Use Digital Tools To Inform Health Care Decisions

A new study finds that 84% of teenagers have used the Internet to find health information and that one-third of teens switched to healthier habits because of that information. The study also finds that 21% of teens have downloaded a mobile health application, while 9% have used a wearable health device. Washington Post et al. Read More

This is what it’s like to be a patient. Health care providers need to see this

Ever wonder what patients think of when you see them in the hospital?  Here’s the answer, in this powerful video from the Cleveland Clinic. 
Patient care is more than just healing -- it's building a connection that encompasses mind, body and soul.

If you could stand in someone else's shoes . . . hear what they hear. See what they see. Feel what they feel. Would you treat them differently?

CEO Toby Cosgrove, MD, shared this video, titled "Empathy," with the Cleveland Clinic staff during his 2012 State of the Clinic address on Feb. 27, 2013.  
https://youtu.be/cDDWvj_q-o8

Bill would OK telehealth use by VA healthcare providers across state lines

FierceHealthIT
A new bill introduced by House lawmakers late last week would allow health professionals working for the Department of Veterans Affairs to practice telemedicine across state borders. The legislation, the Veterans E-Health & Telemedicine Support Act of 2015, would amend a restriction that currently requires the physician and patient to be at a federally owned facility in order for treatment to take place. The legislation allows vets to receive treatment anywhere, including at home or a community center, according to an announcement. Read More

Milestone – Most states now have telehealth parity laws

American Telemedicine Association
Indiana, Minnesota and Nevada are the latest states to enact telemedicine parity laws, which means over half the country – 27 states and DC – now have laws in place enforcing coverage for telemedicine-provided services. Indiana’s parity law requires coverage of telemedicine services under private insurance via interactive audio, video or other electronic media. The new Minnesota law requires health plans to cover and reimburse for telemedicine in the same manner and at the same rate as in-person services. Nevada’s parity law requires coverage and reimbursement for telehealth under private insurance, Medicaid and workers compensation to the same extent and in the same amount as though provided in person. Read More

Telehealth ROI

There are many concerns about telehealth  driving up the patient (consumer) cost of health care because of the investment of the facility or doctor. Actually the opposite is true not only does telemedicine improve patient care quality, safety and satisfaction, but it also saves money. Read More

Proof that telemedicine's value outweighs the costs | mHealthNews

mhealthnews.com•UC Davis researchers found that, in pediatric cases at eight rural hospitals, the benefits of a telemedicine consult more than made up for the costs of installing the technology.

Virtual Hospital Lets Veterans Get Help from Home

Virtual Hospital Lets Veterans Get Help from Home

govtech.com•The VA Virtual Medical Center project brings together simulation training, telehealth and modern-day gaming technology and graphics.

This is a great example of leveraging collaborative technologies to provide a greater level of service whether it's to your patients,clients constituents, or employees. While this type of service may not be adopted by all generations, it can provide another level of service to those who do and even improve the level of service to those who do not by lowering the wait time on-site.  Read More

Telenutrition and screening services for patients with diabetes prevention

A new project at Tuba City Regional Healthcare Corporation (TCRHCC) is expanding our telehealth services to include telenutrition and screening services for patients with diabetes, and hopes to also extend diabetes screening to far-flung communities on the Navajo Nation.
The project, which will begin in the fall of 2015, will utilize a mobile telehealth van to conduct health screenings, telenutrition visits, blood sugar and blood pressure checks, as well as other health services. It was funded by a one-time grant from the Special Diabetes Program for Indians in 2014. Read More