Managing transitions and closing gaps in care via telehealth
Expanding the use of virtual care beyond on-demand, low acuity encounters to address transitions in care, close gaps in care and manage chronic disease enables health systems to simultaneously increase patient engagement levels and extract more value from infrastructure investments.
“Telehealth is another means to deliver value-based care,” said Lauren Weigand, associate director of product management and health systems at MDLIVE, said during an Oct. 25 webinar sponsored by the company. “Hospitalists and intensivists changed the way in-patient care is managed and monitored in many health systems. Soon, we think virtualists providers will manage virtual care planning and management in many ambulatory care scenarios.” MDLIVE is a telehealth technology and services provider based in Sunrise, Fla.
Driving patient engagement and loyalty with telehealth
As health systems face performance metrics that tie quality, patient engagement and outcomes to incentive payments and penalties, Sanjay Patil, MD, executive vice president and general manager for health systems at MDLIVE, posed a question to webinar attendees: “How can providers use telehealth to address performance metrics, achieve target patient outcomes and drive patient engagement including EHR patient portal registration?”
Dr. Patil and Ms. Weigand highlighted three scenarios in which telehealth can bolster patient access, strengthen the patient-caregiver relationship and ultimately improve health system performance as scored by valued-based care contracts and programs.
Use remote patient monitoring and virtual visits to curb readmission rates
Health systems and skilled nursing facilities take on risk for several quality measures, one of which is their avoidable readmission rate. A combination of remote patient monitoring coupled with video-based virtual encounters can reduce avoidable readmissions and drive care coordination, timely intervention and patient engagement.
Medicare Advantage plans measure the rate of chronic heart failure patients who are readmitted within 30 days of discharge. Readmission after chronic heart failure is avoided by remotely monitoring patient vital signs, weight, medication adherence and medication adjustments from home.
Use telehealth to meet quality standards for documenting implantable defibrillator complications
Health systems with workflow integrated virtual care can address program specific quality benchmarks. For example, Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act quality measures for implantable defibrillators require providers to report on patients with first time implants suffering one or more complications or mortality within 30 days of implant. A virtual care monitoring program can insure prompt reporting, documentation and timely resolution of complications involving implant wound care, implant ejection or shocks when a patient showers.
Make patient portal registration the gateway for telehealth care
Patient portals offered by the leading EMR vendors are an optimal gateway for driving patient awareness and use of telehealth services. By requiring patient registration in an EHR patient portal, on-demand and scheduled virtual care can be integrated with the existing provider workflow. Patient portals can provide explanations and establish shared expectations for virtual care services and encounters.
Integrating virtual care with next-generation incentive programs and electronic health system workflows is a key requirement for successful use of telehealth services.
Click here to see the webinar presentation.
Click here to see slides of the presentation.
More articles about health IT:
5 considerations for hospitals implementing wearable technology
Practice management system market to grow to $17.6B by 2024: 4 things to know
Choosing the right EHR for your hospital
