Virtual Care: Transforming the Way We See Our Providers

TOPICS:

Posted By: Roberta Mullin January 2, 2019

In this monthly series we are seeking out the transforming technology of Virtual Care. How does virtual care fit into what we know as telemedicine?  What are the newest innovations and products in virtual care? For telemedicine policy and reimbursement issues, read our regular reporting on Telehealth on RCM Answers.

Hashtags to follow for updates on virtual care:

To Listen:

Conversations on Health Care
Conversations on Health Care airs weekdays at 1 am, 9 am, and 5 pm ET. In this episode, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Iyah Romm, CEO of Cityblock Health, a venture with Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs aimed at improving care and outcomes for underserved populations in urban areas by deploying tech-based solutions supporting patients and care teams. He talks about Cityblock’s development of digital and telehealth tools that enable real time monitoring of patient data, and a network of interventions addressing social determinants of health.

Industry News:

Virtual Care Company SameDay Security Raises $35M – SameDay Security, a company that develops and sells electronic health monitoring and emergency response systems, completed its Series D funding round, bringing total capital raised to $35 million. The money will back its virtual caregiving system, Addison Care.

Advanced video technology bringing virtual Santa visits to Shriners Hospitals for Children – Global technology services and solutions provider, Dimension Data, and Shriners Hospitals for Children brought virtual visits with Santa Claus to young patients and their families across four Shriners Hospital locations.

To Read:

5 Best Practices for Assembling a Virtual Care Steering Committee – Increasingly, health systems working to assemble high-functioning steering committees to guide their virtual care strategy and service, but overall the industry is lagging behind in creating the cross-functional teams needed to drive virtual care success. Part of what is holding health systems back may be the challenges surrounding identifying and assembling a virtual care steering committee. Great news: here are a few simple steps you can take to make sure your steering committee is set up for success. Read the article.

6 Ways Telehealth Made Progress in 2018 – 2018 may have marked a turning point in the way telehealth services are utilized and perceived. With significant progress in consumer acceptance, reimbursement, and legislation, many health systems report that telehealth has moved from a “nice to have” service to an essential component of the way healthcare is delivered. Read the article.

GlobalMed
Several interesting articles on Virtual Care have been posted on GlobalMed, click on the links below to check them out.

Upcoming Events:

The American Telemedicine Association Events
ATA is a non-profit association based in Washington DC with a membership network of more than 10,000 industry leaders and healthcare professionals. We are a leading telehealth association helping to transform healthcare by improving the quality, equity and affordability of healthcare throughout the world. Find their next event.

Defining the industry according to the AAPF

Telemedicine is the practice of medicine using technology to deliver care at a distance. It occurs using a telecommunications infrastructure between a patient (at an originating or spoke site) and a physician or other practitioner licensed to practice medicine (at a distant or hub site).

Telehealth refers to a broad collection of electronic and telecommunications technologies that support health care delivery and services from distant locations. Telehealth technologies support virtual medical, health, and education services.

Virtual Care is a patient service model for healthcare providers.