Virtual Care: Transforming the Way We See Our Providers

TOPICS:

Posted By: Roberta Mullin August 15, 2018

In this 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.

Product News:

PlushCare Serves 100,000 Patients Via Virtual Doctors
PlushCare (@PlushCare), which allows anyone to get treatment from a world-class doctor on their smartphone or computer, announced that they are now serving over 100,000 patients. Founded in 2014, PlushCare is modernizing healthcare by providing urgent and primary care, virtually. Patients can sign up and speak with a doctor in just a few minutes and get diagnosed, treated and prescribed medication via the PlushCare website and mobile applications. Every one of PlushCare’s 60+ doctors has been trained at a top 50 medical institution and goes through a rigorous screening and training process.

WEDI Releases New Telehealth Resource Guide
WEDI’s Telehealth Workgroup (@WEDIonline) has recently issued the Telehealth Resource Guide for the healthcare industry. The document provides a convenient place to access various telehealth resources, identifies telehealth resources that are relevant, up-to-date, and represent a diversity of views on the topic and provides relevant federal and state regulations and policies.

Hoy Health Launches HoyDOC Mobile App, a Bilingual Tele-Health Platform
Hoy Health LLC, an innovative health-tech start-up that offers access to quality healthcare programs through state-of-the-art technology, announced the launch of HoyDOC mobile app. HoyDOC is a bilingual telemedicine platform that connects patients to bilingual Spanish/English Medical providers.

Intervention program with mobile app cuts 2nd suicide attempts by 48%
Clinical Innovation+Technolgy (@ClinicalInnTech) reports that an inpatient suicide intervention program, coupled with a personalized app that offers recovery strategies for distressed suicidal patients, reduced attempted suicides by almost half, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

To Read:

From the Synzi Blog
Caring for Patients with Chronic Disease: Why Virtual Care Is A Must-Have – A chronic disease, as defined by the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, is a disease lasting three months or longer. Chronic diseases affect approximately 133 million Americans, representing more than 40% of the total population of this country. More and more people are living with not just one chronic illness, such as diabetes, heart disease or depression, but with two or more conditions. Almost a third of the population is now living with multiple chronic conditions.

From the Zipnosis Blog
Winter is Coming: Prepare for Cold and Flu with Virtual Care – For most people, the end of summer is characterized by back to school ads, discounted swimwear and the promise of crisp autumn air. In healthcare, it’s more than stacks of new notebooks – it’s time to plan for managing cold and flu season.

Upcoming Events:

SPS 2018
What: Telemedicine & Telehealth Service Provider Summit (SPS)
When: October 8-9, 2018
Where: Glendale, AZ

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.