Virtual Care: Transforming the Way We See Our Providers

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Posted By: Roberta Mullin January 30, 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:

Telehealth and Virtual Care at HIMSS19:

If you are attending HIMSS19 next month, discover how telehealth is transforming operations of hospitals, specialty departments, home health agencies, private physician offices, and consumer homes and workplaces, improving the quality, equity and affordability of healthcare worldwide.

Filter the schedule on telehealth and find these sessions.

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 Dr. Patrick Carroll, Chief Medical Officer at Walgreens Healthcare where he oversees the pharmacy chain’s expanded primary care and prevention health services in nearly 10 thousand retail pharmacies. They discuss Walgreens’ expansion of digital and telehealth interventions for behavioral health, medication compliance and chronic illness management, with expanded health services being offered in the pharmacy clinics.

Industry News:

First Stop Health Raises $6.5 Million in Equity Financing to Fuel Growth in Virtual Healthcare
First Stop Health, LLC (@FirstStopHealth) has raised $6.5 million in equity capital to enhance its market position as a leading provider of virtual healthcare services for the employer marketplace. Leveraging its unique member engagement and guaranteed employer savings model, First Stop Health is now poised to further accelerate its growth.

Babyscripts Announces Philips Strategic Investment and Intended Commercial Partnership
Babyscripts, Inc. (@Babyscripts), a virtual care platform for managing obstetrics, announced that Philips (@PhilipsPR), the leading international health technology company, has taken a minority position in the company by leading a $6 million round of financing. Additional investors include StartUp Health and NueCura Partners.

Synzi Launches ‘Next Generation’ Virtual Care Platform
Synzi (@SynziCare), a virtual care company, announced key updates to its virtual care and patient engagement platform with new features and functionality impacting key areas of reporting, user interface, security and compliance. The improved technology and aesthetic offers patients, staff and clinical administrators a more intuitive user experience, enhanced visuals, simplified navigation, and a number of new capabilities. The next generation platform also offers a high-performance reporting dashboard – empowering organizations to better understand strengths and areas for improvement.

Health Navigator and Tyto Care Partner to Enhance Telehealth Diagnoses with Symptom Collection
Health Navigator (@HlthNavigator), a company that delivers clinical content for digital health, telemedicine, and eHealth applications, announced its partnership with Tyto Care (@TytoCare), an innovative telehealth company enabling live telehealth visits and comprehensive medical examinations. As a result of this partnership, the Health Navigator symptom checker is now integrated into the latest version of Tyto Care’s telehealth platform, providing more comprehensive clinical data to healthcare providers and clinicians.

To Read:

Synzi
How Home Health Agencies Use Technology to Reduce Readmissions – In order to decrease readmissions and related costs, the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) was established as part of the Affordable Care Act. Between 2010 and 2016, CMS reduced Medicare payments to hospitals with excessive readmissions within 30 days of discharge for certain conditions by over $2 billion dollars.

Better Planning for Post-Acute Care at Home – After discharge from a hospital or other setting, many patients prefer to receive post-acute care at home as the familiar environment allows patients to exert some amount of control over their daily routine (including their sleeping and eating habits) and their follow-up care schedule. These preferences are defined in the Picker-Commonwealth Program for Patient-Centered Care. Patient-centered care is the practice of caring for patients (and their families) in ways that are meaningful and valuable to the individual patient – including listening to, informing and involving patients in their care.

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.