Journal of Telemedicine and eHealth: Environmental Impact of Ambulatory Telehealth Use by a Statewide University Health System During COVID-19 A study by UC Davis Health researchers assessed telehealth visits’ carbon footprint and their potential savings in lives, costs and time compared to in-person visits. The study found substantial savings for patients and the environment, [...]
Health Affairs: The Health Plan Environment in California Contributed to Differential Use of Telehealth During the COVID-19 Pandemic Differential patient and provider access to technology and resources has raised concerns that existing health disparities may be extenuated by shifts to virtual care. This study examines the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, to examine [...]
Community Mental Health Journal: Federally Qualified Health Centers Use of Telehealth to Deliver Integrated Behavioral Health Care During COVID-19 Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) transitioned to deliver care via telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study reviewed how FQHCs adopted integrated behavioral health (IBH) using telehealth. Nine interviews with FQHC administrators resulted in [...]
The Commonwealth Fund: State Telemedicine Coverage Requirements Continue to Evolve As telemedicine coverage requirements evolve, some states have begun to require coverage of audio-only telephone visits, exempt behavioral health care from limits on telephone visits, and protect patients’ access to their providers. This report from the Commonwealth Fund details state legislation enacted since [...]
Kaiser Family Foundation: Access and Coverage for Mental Health Care: Findings from the 2022 KFF Women’s Health Survey A Kaiser Family Foundation brief found that women were more likely than men to report needing mental health services in the past two years, but 40 percent did not seek treatment and 10 percent were [...]
The inclusion of a two-year extension of Medicare telehealth and commercial market telehealth flexibilities will make a huge difference to so many Americans. The Alliance for Connected Care has been calling for predictability for patients and clinicians while continuing to work toward permanent telehealth authorization. This gives us both. The package includes a [...]
This update includes: Alliance for Connected Care End-of-Year Message Pending Omnibus HHS Proposed Rule Letters to Governors and notable research and news developments
Government Accountability Office (GAO): Federal Actions and Selected Non-Federal Practices to Facilitate Diversity of Patients The GAO released a report describing actions taken by federal agencies and non-federal cancer centers to facilitate enrollment of patients from diverse backgrounds in cancer clinical trials. The report found that the Departments of Health and Human Services [...]
Journal of the American Geriatrics Society: Development of Telehealth Principles and Guidelines for Older Adults Members of the Collaborative for Telehealth and Aging released a set of principles and guidelines for providing telehealth to older patients last year. The three principles offer general rules to guide behavior, while the guidelines provide specificity for [...]
Epic Research: Telehealth Visits Unlikely to Require In-Person Follow-Up Within 90 Days On December 13, Epic Research released a study on revisit rates from telehealth visits. The study found that telehealth visits were unlikely to require in-person follow-up visits within 90 days. Key Findings In nearly every specialty studied, most patients who had [...]