Telemedicine News & Updates 3-1-2017

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Posted By: Annmarie Budniak March 1, 2017

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State Telemedicine Laws are Coming Along
Medpage Today reports that last week at HIMSS17 healthcare attorney, Alexis Gilroy, JD (@Ehealthlaw) discussed strategies for evaluating and managing multi-jurisdictional laws and regulations while scaling your digital health business during her session. According to Ms. Gilroy the best-kept secret in the telemedicine industry is the fact that payers legally cannot discriminate against clinicians who provide services via telemedicine. “This is massive leverage,” said Gilroy, a partner at Jones Day in Washington, “Use it.” In her presentation, Gilroy discussed the three types of telemedicine: provider to provider, remote monitoring, and direct to consumer.

Digital Noema Telehealth and Lumeon Partner to Optimize Telemedicine Pathways
Last week at HIMSS17, Lumeon (@lumeon_), a digital health company, and Digital Noema Telehealth (@dntelehealth), a provider of telemedicine and remote patient monitoring, announced they are partnering to optimize care pathways for telemedicine reimbursements. [tweet_dis excerpt=”@lumeon_ partnered with @dntelehealth to optimize #telemedicine pathways “]Tweet This[/tweet_dis]

ATA’s 2017 Telehealth 2.0 Conference to Focus on Industry Transformation, Innovation
ATA (@AmericanTelemed) has officially announced Telehealth 2.0 The Transformation Advantage, the largest technology innovation and networking event in the telehealth industry, which brings together more than 6,000 healthcare and industry professionals, including 1,000 C-Level executives. The conference agenda will focus on products and technologies that are re-inventing healthcare, regulation, and delivery and operational strategies for an industry projected to surpass $30 billion globally by 2020. See details below as well as a link to register for the event.

WEDI Releases Issue Brief on Introduction to Telehealth Codes
WEDI (@wedionline), the nation’s leading authority on the use of health IT to create efficiencies in healthcare information exchange, announced the release of an educational issue brief on an Introduction to Telehealth Codes. This issue brief was developed by the WEDI Innovative Encounters Workgroup with the intention to provide introductory information on codes for telehealth services by individual health care providers. The Innovative Encounters Workgroup is planning to develop a separate issue brief on the payer perspective of telehealth codes for future release.

Iron Bow Technologies, Partnered with Vivify Health, Awarded $258 Million U.S. Veterans Affairs Home Telehealth Contract
Iron Bow Technologies (@Iron_Bow), a technology solutions and services provider, has partnered with Vivify Health (@VivifyHealth), a remote patient monitoring platform, to deliver scalable in-home telehealth services. Iron Bow recently announced that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded the company the VA Home Telehealth contract valued at over $258 million. The scope of the contract is to improve Veterans access to quality remote healthcare.

New AMITA Health App Lets Adults With Non-Emergency Conditions Get Care Quickly Through `Virtual Visits’
AMITA Health (@AMITAHealth) has launched a user-friendly app that enables busy adults to meet virtually with a medical provider for fast diagnosis and treatment of common, non-emergency conditions such as coughs, colds and seasonal allergies. Through the app, known as eAMITA, patients can request a virtual appointment and can participate in a secure, two-way video conference with a medical provider, using the camera and microphone on a smartphone, tablet or computer. After discussing and evaluating a patient’s condition, the provider can send a prescription electronically to the patient’s preferred pharmacy, if necessary. The new service is available between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. every day of the week; eAMITA users may submit an appointment request up to two hours before their desired appointment time. Each virtual visit costs $35.

NATO Develops Telemedicine System for Emergencies
In 2013, scientists from Romania, The United States and NATO partner countries Finland, Moldova, and Ukraine began work on a project that would allow first responders to access a telemedicine system from emergency scenes or combat zones. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (@nato) has developed a multinational telemedicine system to provide medical services in emergencies. On Friday (24 February 2017), a high-level conference at NATO headquarters marked the completion of this project, supported by the NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme.

Telemedicine, Telehealth And M-Health Markets At $1.5 Billion In 2014 Are Anticipated To Reach $45.4 Billion By 2021
The Medgadget (@medgadget) Blog reports that worldwide markets are poised to achieve significant growth as the push systems are used inside telemedicine systems and m-health apps to move patient and clinician communication in a secure manner to and from the person or clinician that needs the healthcare information.

TriageLogic Announces Continuwell – An Innovative Nurse-First Model to Improve Telehealth
TriageLogic Management and Consulting, LLC (@triagelogic), announced the launch of Continuwell, a new telehealth product for businesses and organizations to decrease employee health care expense and reduce employee sick days. This innovative service is designed to complement and enhance any existing wellness or telemedicine offering already in place, or offer a turnkey solution.

Visiomed’s BewellConnect Launches Presence in Boston
Visiomed, the French provider of medical grade connected devices and services since 1997, is changing the landscape of healthcare with their innovative use of modern technology providing patients with pro-active, custom-made solutions. Recognizing the rising demand of self-monitoring alongside the desire for instant and affordable healthcare without walls, Visiomed has launched BewellConnect (@bewellconnect1), an ecosystem of high-level devices developed with healthcare professionals that is empowering the lives of patients. As of February 2017, Visiomed is pleased to open the first North American BewellConnect Headquarters in the Back Bay neighborhood in downtown Boston, Massachusetts.


Upcoming Events:

ATA 2017 International Conference and Tradeshow (#T2Telehealth)
What: Telehealth 2.0 – The Transformation Advantage
When: April 23-25, 2017
Where: Orlando, FL

SPS 2017 Telehealth Conference
What: 3rd National Telemedicine & Telehealth Service Provider Showcase
When: October 2-3, 2017
Where: Phoenix, AZ

CMS Covered Telehealth Services
You can download the list of services payable under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule when furnished via telehealth on the CMS website.