SR Health Blog

Starting in March, healthcare organizations found themselves struggling to get ramped up on telehealth as quickly as possible. While some organizations quickly adapted and implemented telehealth (or already had it in place), other organizations have hesitated. For years, there has been resistance to telehealth. Many things have changed but some myths have remained. This article looks at some of the biggest myths and what the research really says about them.

Federally Qualified Health Centers face unique challenges as they try to provide quality healthcare to a population of patients who are largely uninsured or on Medicaid or Medicare. Franklin Primary Health Center is no different. They had a system that did only phone reminders and provided no additional messaging tools. The no-show rate was high and the patient outcomes weren’t optimal. They knew it was time for a change. Another FQHC recommended Solutionreach. After a demo and some discussions, it was clear that was the right solution for Franklin to meet their goals.

The statistic is staggering: Two out of every three patients over the age of 65 have two or more chronic illnesses, and until recently, a physician’s ability to monitor these patients with regular frequency was nearly impossible. Medicare has technically covered remote patient monitoring (RPM)—the ability to collect and analyze actionable physiologic data (e.g., weight, blood pressure, pulse oximetry, respiratory flow rate) outside of a traditional healthcare setting—since 2002. However, low reimbursement associated with this service made it unfeasible for many practices. Instead, physicians relied on in-person visits to check vital signs and lab work, meaning they potentially missed out on critical opportunities to prevent costly emergency department visits and hospitalizations.

A survey of infectious disease experts found that 73 percent say they believe we will see another wave of COVID-19. You’ll need to prepare for the worst case while you hope for the best. Apply lessons you’ve learned to build your contingency plan.

We are continuing our series on telemedicine success by looking at how to track your progress. Any initiative you implement should be measured. Telmedicine is no different.

Free Webinar - Patient Engagement in the "New World": Getting the Tools in Place
Thursday, June 18 - 1:00 pm EDT
Marc Probst, Chief Information Officer, Intermountain Healthcare

Telehealth has blown up amidst the COVID-19 crisis and along with it have come a wave of legal and regulatory changes and relaxations. Which of these changes will remain, and will telehealth adoption, as we know it during COVID-19, last past the pandemic? I am pulling out my crystal ball and making predictions on which changes will be permanent and which ones will be rolled back to the previous status quo.

Free Webinar: Hybrid Care - The Best of Both Worlds
Thursday, June 11, 10:00 AM PDT / 1:00 PM EDT
Christian Milaster, founder and president, Ingenium Digital Health Advisors

Covid-19 required many healthcare organizations to quickly launch their telemedicine services with little planning or experience. Now it's time to learn how to optimize your telemedicine services and integrate them with your in-person services in a post-distancing world. Christian Milaster is a Master Builder of Telehealth Programs who has worked with the Mayo Clinic and numerous health systems and physician practices to help launch telemedicine the right way. In his pragmatic talk, Christian will look at how healthcare organizations can quickly adapt to delivering hybrid patient care through in-person visits and virtual visits to ensure long-term success.

As we continue our series on implementing telemedicine successfully, we are diving into how to get patients onboard. The data suggests patients are open to using telemedicine. But it's up to you to help them along to make it happen. Once you have chosen your telehealth technology and implemented it effectively, you need to begin scheduling patients. Here is how to get them scheduled, using telemedicine, and feeling good about it.

In our first post on choosing and implementing telemedicine successully, we looked at how you can use telemedicine and choose the right solution. As the series continues, we'll dive into what you need to do to implement telemedicine successfully in your hospital or health system.