Telehealth for COVID-19 Prevention, Diagnosis, & Testing!
Original: March 20, 2020; Update:
The following is unedited version.
Telehealth Key to Payer COVID-19 Prevention, Diagnosis, Testing (Waddill, 2020).
As the new strain of coronavirus, COVID-19, spreads across the US, payers are partnering are exploring ways to use telehealth in assessing, preventing, diagnosing, testing, and treating for COVID-19. Recently Best’s AM Report shared that volatility and pressure in the healthcare system can lead to strong innovation in the healthcare payer industry.
“The health insurance market continues to change rapidly owing to regulatory and legislative changes, market demand, and medical advances,” the report explained. “As a result, health insurers are quite receptive to new technologies and are usually early adopters that have produced quantifiable results.” About two months since the first case of coronavirus was reported in the US, this analysis rings true as payers form new partnerships and launch telehealth solutions to prevent and manage the pandemic.
The healthcare industry is growing increasingly aware of telehealth’s role in the coronavirus preventive care and management efforts. The virus has significantly boosted telehealth usage as payers try to prevent patients from carrying the disease into doctors’ offices and ER rooms while seeking care.
New York Payers Partner To Provide Telemedicine Solutions: Capital District’s Physicians’ Health Plans (CDPHP) and MVP Health Care are two New York health plans that are banding together to offer telemedicine services. The services are being employed to allow providers to offer both diagnostic and prescription services over the phone for coronavirus. “As the public contends with coronavirus COVID-19, it’s essential that communities and businesses like ours collaborate to tackle this issue in innovative ways,” said Christopher Del Vecchio, president and chief executive officer of MVP Health Care. “Together with CDPHP, we’re leveraging technology during a challenging time to support the health and safety of the communities we serve. This program is a game-changer for anyone in need of virtual ER triage.” The service went into effect immediately on March 16, 2020.
Members will be able to call in or go online to connect with a live, emergency-trained United Concierge Medicine provider. The provider can assess the member’s condition and discern whether the member may have contracted COVID-19. If the member is determined to be at risk for COVID-19, the provider will then arrange for the patient to receive a COVID-19 test, locating the nearest testing facility and availability. “This first of its kind partnership is putting patient health first, providing our combined membership instant access to emergency medicine,” said John D. Bennett, MD, president and chief executive officer of CDPHP. “In times of uncertainty, it’s critical that our organizations come together and do what’s right for the community. That’s exactly what is happening here.”
Oscar Health Offers COVID-19 Risk Quiz and Testing Center Locator: Venture capitalist-funded Oscar Health built the nation’s first testing center locator which is now available, not just to Oscar Heath members but to anyone who may be in need of COVID-19 testing. The first step to utilizing with Oscar Health’s new tool is to take a risk assessment survey. The quiz takes only about a minute and walks patients through potential risk factors, such as a history of smoking, and COVID-19 symptoms like difficulty breathing.
At the end of the quiz, the site recommends mitigation measures. If one of those measures is to get tested for COVID-19, the patient will be directed to a testing center locator. Patients can find the closest center with availability for testing and will be advised regarding best practices, such as calling ahead. At the time of its release, the tool mapped out 100 testing sites, but Oscar Health said it is adding more sites to the resource daily. The tool also immediately links patients with Oscar Health’s telemedicine platform, Doctor on Call, to discuss their risk and preventive care measures.
As the pandemic continues, other payers are expected to launch new solutions and partnerships, such as CVS Health’s to-be-defined federal partnership to enable COVID-19 testing. These innovations, along with advancements across the healthcare industry, could prove pivotal to bringing the downward curve in the graphs tracking coronavirus incidences.
Feds OK Interstate Licensing, Paving Way for Telehealth Expansion (Wicklund, 2020).
Vice President Mike Pence's announcement on Wednesday paves the way for providers to treat patients in other states, opening the door for expanded telehealth and mHealth programs.
Federal officials have announced that they are allowing healthcare providers to practice across state lines – a move that eliminates, at least temporarily, a key barrier to the continued adoption of telehealth and mHealth. The ruling wouldn't eliminate interstate licensing entirely, but give providers the ability to treat patients in other states. HHS hasn't yet explained the details behind Pence's announcement.
The announcement came from Vice President Mike Pence during a March 18 White House press conference on ongoing efforts to contain the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and is the latest in a historic series of moves aimed at expanding the use of connected health and reimbursing doctors for those services. “At the President’s discretion (the Health and Human Services Department) is issuing a regulation today that will allow all doctors and medical professionals to practice across state lines to meet the needs of hospitals that may arise in adjoining areas,” Pence said during the noontime news conference, with President Trump standing alongside.
Several telehealth and digital health organizations, including the American Telemedicine Association, had in recent days lobbied the government to relax restrictions on the interstate practice of medicine so that care providers would have the freedom to treat patients wherever they live. “Requirements that a provider be licensed in the state where a patient is located present significant challenges to rapidly expanding access to care as we work to combat COVID-19,” ATA CEO Ann Mond Johnson said in a press release earlier this week.
“In light of today's guidance from CMS regarding Medicare coverage and payment of telehealth and virtual services, we encourage states to modify requirements on the type of telehealth modalities and technologies that providers can use, which will help ensure timely triaging and treatment of patients, much like what Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina and others have already done,” she said. “Providers should be able to use every tool at their disposal to help keep health care workers safe and ensure that resources are reserved for those individuals in need of in-person care. We encourage states that have not already waived these restrictions to do so as soon as possible to ensure health care providers can quickly expand access to virtual services.”
Also in support is the American Medical Association, which adopted a report at the end of 2019 that supports the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, which was launched in 2017 by the Federation of State Medical Boards and offers a voluntary expedited pathway to licensure for physicians looking to practice in multiple states – for example, when using telehealth to expand their reach or connect with patients in other states. “It is increasingly challenging for physician practices to compete with large commercial entities that are contracting with payers to provide telemedicine services, including primary care services,” the report stated. “Commercial direct-to-consumer telemedicine enables patients to receive care from their homes, offices or mobile devices; however, these encounters are provided outside of a patient’s medical home and can lead to fragmented care. Where there is an established patient relationship, a physician should be able to use telemedicine to provide quality emergent or urgent care for a patient’s existing condition when that patient is traveling in another state.”
Roughly half of the states in the US are now part of the IMLC, and similar compacts exist for nurses, physical therapists, psychologists and EMS providers. Other groups of providers have expressed interest in developing compacts, while an Oklahoma lawmakers has launched an effort to create a compact for audiology and speech-language pathologists. The Department of Veterans’ Affairs has been allowing its care providers to treat veterans in any state as part of the VA MISSION Act of 2018.
With interstate licensing restrictions set aside, hospitals, health systems and other practitioners will be able to treat patients in other states, enabling them to scale up telehealth and mHealth programs to reach more people and improve access for those in remote areas. State medical boards would still have the authority to regulate providers in their states. As providers and telehealth vendors await further details from HHS on the breadth and scope of the interstate licensing rule, one of the bigger questions will be whether the new guidelines will remain in effect once the pandemic has been contained.
Tagged Connected Health Coronavirus Interstate Medical Licensure Compact mHealth Strategies Telehealth Licensure Telehealth Strategies Telemedicine Licensure Telemedicine Strategies Virtual Care Preventive Care Telehealth Telemedicine Focus On Telehealth Integration Interviews Public Health Telehealth Tools
Dig Deeper:
Volatility Drives Payer Technological Innovation, Partnerships
States Seek CMS Approval For Medicaid, ACA Exchange Flexibility
Tufts Health Expands Telehealth Solution, Boosts Access to Care
Coronavirus Scare Gives Telehealth an Opening to Redefine Healthcare
Are State Medical Boards Supporting or Stifling Telehealth?
Remote Patient Monitoring May Predict 30-Day Readmission Risk
What Telemedicine, Telehealth Resource Centers Offer to Providers
mHealth Heads to the Top of the World
Using mHealth to Track and Treat HIV in Remote Africa
Continua: Telehealth Platform Saved Lives After Japan Earthquake
Intermountain Turns Telehealth, mHealth Into a Connected Care Platform
mHealth Closes The Gaps in Medication Adherence During a Crisis
A Global mHealth Project Sets its Sights on America’s Underserved
FCC Votes to Increase Broadband Funding for Telehealth Expansion
References:
Waddill, Kelsey. (2020, March 18). Telehealth Key to Payer COVID-19 Prevention, Diagnosis, Testing, HealthPayerIntelligence, https://healthpayerintelligence.com/news/telehealth-key-to-payer-covid-19-prevention-diagnosis-testing?eid=CXTEL000000437904&elqCampaignId=13785&utm_source=nl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter&elqTrackId=adba195ce63b4d61a4b9c2b994434bc2&elq=d096ec3c2ed148b5b1000602d2fa8930&elqaid=14473&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=13785
Wicklund, Eric (2020, March 19). Feds OK Interstate Licensing, Paving Way for Telehealth Expansion. MHealthIntelligence, https://mhealthintelligence.com/news/feds-ok-interstate-licensing-paving-way-for-telehealth-expansion?eid=CXTEL000000437904&elqCampaignId=13784&utm_source=nl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter&elqTrackId=bf8ce1afbbe741ce85d7248bfd468795&elq=729f7bfe26c7438396a70239bb5f762a&elqaid=14472&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=13784
Supplement Readings:
Wicklund, Eric (2018, August 24). Using Telehealth Technology for Care Coordination During a Disaster. MHealthIntelligence, https://mhealthintelligence.com/features/using-telehealth-technology-for-care-coordination-during-a-disaster?eid=CXTEL000000437904&elqCampaignId=13784&utm_source=nl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter&elqTrackId=516c056192ba45df8998d0751a680866&elq=729f7bfe26c7438396a70239bb5f762a&elqaid=14472&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=13784
Wicklund, Eric (2020, March 05). Coronavirus Scare Gives Telehealth an Opening to Redefine Healthcare. MHealthIntelligence, https://mhealthintelligence.com/news/coronavirus-scare-gives-telehealth-an-opening-to-redefine-healthcare?eid=CXTEL000000437904&elqCampaignId=13784&utm_source=nl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter&elqTrackId=4cde2d1a744647589c41dff710ae3407&elq=729f7bfe26c7438396a70239bb5f762a&elqaid=14472&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=13784