Telehealth
As the coronavirus continues to spread across the U.S., hospital and health systems CIOs face a plethora of IT tasks to mitigate the outbreak, according to a March 10 Wall Street Journal report.
Here are five hospitals and health systems that implemented telehealth technology and services in February:
American Well rebranded to Amwell on March 9 to reflect the growth of telehealth from a virtual urgent care service to digital care delivery.
Several hospitals and health systems, including Spectrum Health, Indiana University Health and MUSC Health, are now offering virtual COVID-19 screenings at no charge for those with symptoms of the illness caused by the novel coronavirus.
To help meet the demands of possible novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreaks in local communities across the nation, Bright.md is offering a free COVID-19 evaluation, screening and escalation tool to all hospitals in the U.S.
In Collaboration with Bright.md
The American Telemedicine Association commended Congress on March 5 for passing an $8.3 billion emergency funding package, which includes a provision to waive telehealth restrictions for Medicare beneficiaries, to combat the U.S. COVID-19 outbreak.
On March 6, President Donald Trump signed an emergency funding bill in response to the coronavirus outbreak, which includes $500 million in waivers for Medicare telehealth restrictions, according to The Hill.
Hospitals and health systems across the country are asking patients to pick up the phone rather than sit a waiting room if they have fears they might be infected with the coronavirus, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Amazon may expand its virtual clinic services to employees working at its second headquarters in Arlington, Va., according to a March 4 Washington Business Journal report.
Charleston, S.C.-based MUSC Health is rolling out telemedicine intensive care unit services at its Lancaster (S.C.) Medical Center, according to a news release emailed to Becker's Hospital Review.