Telehealth

The CMS hospital-at-home waiver and Medicare telehealth flexibilities would continue under a $1.2 trillion spending package released Jan. 20 by the House Appropriations Committee. The three-bill minibus proposal would extend acute hospital care at home through Sept. 30, 2030, and…

Yasir Tarabichi, MD, has been named head of digital at Ovatient, a nonprofit virtual-first healthcare delivery company co-founded by The MetroHealth System in Cleveland and MUSC Health in Charleston, S.C. In this role, Dr. Tarabichi will oversee product strategy, technology…

Increased telehealth use since the pandemic has not been associated with a rise in overall healthcare utilization, according to a study at Ann Arbor-based Michigan Medicine. The researchers analyzed 538.8 million Medicare fee-for-service outpatient office visits from January 2019 to…

After rising in October 2024, telehealth utilization reversed course in October 2025, falling nationally and in most regions, according to a Jan. 15 news release from nonprofit organization Fair Health. The Midwest was the only region to see a slight…

Emergency department boarding remains one of the most stubborn operational challenges facing U.S. hospitals. National data show that more than a quarter of admitted patients now wait four hours or more for an inpatient bed, and waits of 24 hours…

Bangor, Maine-based St. Joseph Healthcare and the Community Care Partnership of Maine, an ACO, have received over $491,000 to expand virtual specialty care consults across the state. The funding from Northern Border Regional Commission, a federal-state economic development partnership, will…

Telehealth use in rural areas was associated with a higher likelihood of patients utilizing preventive care, according to research in the American Journal of Managed Care. The sample for the Jan. 6 study, conducted by researchers at payer Elevance Health,…

Telehealth investments are a key component of many states’ plans for their Rural Health Transformation Program initiatives, but the potential expiration of the pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities could throw a wrench in those strategies.  Oklahoma Hospital Association President and CEO Rich…

Former Jefferson Health CEO Stephen Klasko, MD, and Providence CEO emeritus Rod Hochman, MD, have joined the governance and advisory ranks of AmplifyMD. Dr. Klasko has been appointed to the board of directors, and Dr. Hochman has joined as a…

The American Medical Association is asking Congress to make pandemic-era telemedicine changes permanent ahead of their Jan. 30 expiration. Those flexibilities lapsed amid the recent government closure, coinciding with a 24% national decline in fee-for-service telehealth visits during the first…