Improving medication adherence is a constant struggle within the healthcare world. Did you know that it's estimated that between 20% to 50% of patients are non-adherent? This blog will discuss how technology and communication are helping to improve the growing issue of non-adherence.
If you think young people are the only ones ready to embrace telemed technology and healthcare social media, think again! It might surprise you to know that the 60 + demographic of patients in the U.S. are quickly becoming the most eager to embrace the technology. With good reason: many of these patients may be housebound as a result of their chronic conditions or, at the very least, are unable to drive to the office. This group of patients is quite eager to embrace remote technology, like Skype and email, as a means of communication to their healthcare providers. It’s not uncommon for these patients to have many doctors, sometimes across several states, and having the ability to communicate effectively without necessarily having to travel is a huge draw.
Remote healthcare is still relatively new and has been slow to be adopted on a large scale, but many who have taken advantage of telemedicine services are finding that the financial aspect is well worth the transition. While telepsychiatry can't completely replace an in-person visit with a Psychiatrist, it can be a valuable option for areas where access to those types of professionals are limited at best.
Back in 2013, Medicare proposed changes to its practices in reimbursement for telemedicine by adding seven new codes for this type of remote healthcare. These changes have been slowly making progress and put into action by practices and healthcare systems who are looking to increase their number of patient visits with the aid of technology and telehealth.
Earlier this year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid proposed adding codes to cover telepsych services including routine visits, consultations and psychiatric assessments completed via telehealth services. The field of telepsychiatry has become a hot zone for start-ups, which are eager to develop software that boasts usability, confidentiality and smooth interfaces to incorporate video, sound and instant messaging between patients and providers. The same could be said of any telehealth programs - but perhaps the foray into psychiatry via computer is the most interesting of all.
As part of BHM’s partnership with The Doctor’s Channel, Anthony Grimaldi, BHM’s Senior Vice President Provider/Hospital Division, speaks about telemedicine and advancing patient care.
No doubt that in the coming years, telehealth will become a fundamental part of how doctors diagnose and treat patients. Of major concern for both providers and patients is, if this new technology becomes commonplace, who will pay for it? Telehealth, like most medical interventions, isn’t cheap. In order to have computer systems that can be used for teleconferencing, as well as the HIPAA compliant programs for videos [editor’s note: of which Skype is not]. Then, of course, after the initial purchasing costs come the costs of implementation, the cost of training and the cost of ongoing maintenance of the programs and systems.
October 1st of last year, CMS cracked down on readmission rates for hospitals nationwide, handing out millions of dollars in penalties. The Affordable Care Act put these measures into place in order to curb the problem of readmissions, which are not only costly, but reflect an overall poor population health in the U.S. - especially for those patients with chronic conditions. For FY ‘14, 2% was withheld from payments per the guidelines for penalties. By 2015, the rate of withholding for penalties is expected to top 3%. In addition to the higher payments, there will also be additional diagnoses included in the readmission criteria list - it began with heart attacks, pneumonia and heart failure and will now expand to include COPD and complications from chronic lung conditions.
With flu season upon us, healthcare providers and patients alike are gearing up for a busy time of year in the office. As office schedulers know, trying to accommodate all the patients a doctor needs to see in a given day is tricky enough without the added stress of flu season - when doctors are likely to need to see even more patients and hospitals will no doubt see an uptick in admissions and emergency room visits.
The Chief Information Officer in a healthcare system has perhaps one of the most complex and ever-evolving roles in the hospital C-Suite today. Since information technology has now permeated our entire culture - and particularly in medicine - executive level information management is hot field nowadays. Strategic planning within an organization tends to encompass many areas - but for the Chief Information Officer, most of their planning requirements fall under the category of information management. For most modern hospitals, information management is largely to do with electronic health records and the business transactions that surround them. While CIOs are not down in the trenches laying the groundwork for databases or troubleshooting minor issues, they are overseeing the purchasing, implementation and staffing needs to make the whole operation run smoothly.