BMC Health Services Research: The Implementation of Telemedicine in Wound Care The increasing use of telemedicine represents a major shift for health workers and patients alike. This study explored how both health care professionals and patients experienced the implementation of telemedicine follow-up in primary care. The analyses revealed the following themes: (1) enhancing professional [...]
Journal of Substance User & Addiction Treatment: Buprenorphine Discontinuation in Telehealth-Only Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, federal agencies permitted telehealth initiation of buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) without in-person assessment. This longitudinal cohort analysis found that a telehealth-only platform reduced risk of buprenorphine discontinuation compared [...]
KeyCare: Patients Prefer Telehealth Over In-Office Visits for Urgent, Preventive, and Specialty Care A consumer survey from KeyCare found that patients prefer telehealth to office visits for a variety of medical issues, including urgent care, preventive care, chronic care and specialty services. For minor but urgent issues, such as cough, sinusitis, and rash, almost [...]
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG): Additional Oversight of Remote Patient Monitoring in Medicare is Needed HHS OIG released a report, examining RPM in Medicare. HHS OIG found: The use of remote patient monitoring in Medicare increased dramatically from 2019 to 2022. About 43 percent of enrollees who [...]
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) responded to the Alliance's letter. The Alliance for Connected Care sent a letter to HHS OIG regarding the report on remote patient monitoring. The Alliance highlights inaccuracies and subjective nature of the report. The Alliance requests HHS OIG to consider [...]
On behalf of the Alliance for Connected Care and the many patients and clinicians we represent, the Alliance wrote to support the Committee’s leadership in working to avert a pending telehealth cliff for Medicare beneficiaries and support bipartisan passage of the Telehealth Modernization Act of 2024 (H.R.7623). In addition to support for the legislation, the [...]
FAIR Health: Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker FAIR Health found that in June, telehealth utilization increased nationally and in the West, Northeast and South, but decreased in the Midwest. Nationally, telehealth claim lines rose from 4.82% of medical claim lines in May to 4.89% in June, an increase of 1.5%. In terms of mental health [...]
JAMA Surgery: Teletrauma Use in Emergency Departments Nearly 30 million predominantly rural US residents lack timely access to trauma care expertise available at level I or II trauma centers. Telehealth is an established approach to improve access to health care expertise using remote consultation. This survey study found that teletrauma use lagged significantly behind [...]
JAMA Network Open: Stimulant, Antidepressant, and Opioid Telehealth Prescription Trends Between 2019 and 2022 This cross-sectional study found that increasing telehealth utilization across medications suggests a growing acceptance, need, or preference for remote services. Opioid prescriptions declined before Q2 of 2020 and continued to decrease by 17.2% from 2019 to 2022. In-person visits accounted [...]
JAMA Network: Telehealth vs In-Person Early Palliative Care for Patients With Advanced Lung Cancer In this randomized comparative effectiveness trial, patient-reported quality-of-life scores were equivalent between groups. The delivery of early palliative care virtually vs in person demonstrated equivalent effects on quality of life in patients with advanced on–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), underscoring [...]