How AI-Enabled Remote Patient Monitoring Is Improving Patient Adherence and Outcomes
The rapid shift toward telehealth accelerated the adoption of remote patient monitoring and played a significant role in making at-home care a reality. This new care delivery model helped to reduce the spread of COVID-19 among the most vulnerable and allowed providers to deliver the full continuum of care for patients with acute and chronic illnesses.
Survey: Virtual Visits Have Their Benefits (and Distractions)
Compiled by the New York-based telehealth scheduling company Zocdoc, the survey, taken separately of patients and care providers between May 2020 and May 2022 and combined with an analysis of appointment bookings, charts the increase in telehealth visits during the pandemic and a decrease in recent months as the COVID-19 crisis has waned. It found that roughly one-third of all visits were virtual in 2020, as the pandemic peaked, and that number dropped to 17% as of May 2022.
Building a Business Case for Asynchronous Telehealth
Unlike synchronous telehealth, which basically consists of a two-way, real-time audio-video feed between patient and care provider, asynchronous telehealth doesn’t involve real-time communication, and most often doesn’t include video. Consumers enter information into an online platform at their own time and convenience, usually through a questionnaire, and a care provider accesses that data on the other end then responds with a diagnosis and treatment plan. It can be done by phone or computer and include images and even video, but the key factor is that both patient and provider can access the platform at the time and place of their choosing.
Improving Outcomes for Vulnerable Patients With Comprehensive At-Home Care
If the healthcare has learned anything over the past few years, it’s the need for change and improvement to systems and processes, particularly those related to care delivery for vulnerable populations. Organizations like Emcara Health were already working toward more interconnected, at-home delivery of care even before the COVID-19 pandemic, and over the past few years they saw the concept become top of mind for the industry.
Healthcare Executives Plot a Long-Term Strategy for Hospital at Home Concept
The Acute Hospital Care at Home program was developed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to reduce expensive hospitalizations and give patients the opportunity to receive care at home. Healthcare organizations were encouraged to launch these programs by CMS waivers enacted during the COVID-19 public health emergency that boost reimbursements and reduce barriers on the use of telehealth and other services.
Trends in Outpatient Mental Healthcare During Pandemic Have Telehealth Implications
The new study was published by HealthAffairs. The study is based on an analysis of claims data from Office Ally, a claims clearinghouse for Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial payers. The researchers compared mental health service utilization from time periods before and during the pandemic: 2016 to 2018 and March to December 2020.
Physicians Still Keen on Telehealth Despite Challenges
New survey results indicate that “telehealth use will outlive the pandemic,” reported by Optum, UnitedHealth Group’s health services division, conducted fall 2021, which captured physician telehealth utilization including opportunities and frustrations.
Setting a Smart-Growth Approach to Telehealth in Motion: Three Insights
In 2020, telehealth investments focused on speed, not strategy, as healthcare providers and payers rushed to meet the need for virtual care during the pandemic. Now, a recent Amwell/HIMSS survey shows there’s a need to move toward purposeful growth in telehealth.
Patient Characteristics Play Key Role in Success of Video Telemedicine Visits, Study Says
The new research article, which was published by JAMA Network Open, examines the results of a quality improvement study of more than 130,000 scheduled video visits at an academic health system between March 1 and Dec. 31, 2020. Video visits were considered a success if the service was completed. Video visits were considered a failure if they were converted to a telephone visit.
Four Lessons Learned From UW Health’s Virtual Care Rollout
As most health systems found out in the early days of the pandemic, scaling up virtual services was both critical and challenging. For UW Health, this process began with the need to rapidly boost the care team’s ability to work from home, providing virtual consultations and attending virtual rounds that would conserve PPE and reduce contact between team members and patients.