Telehealth

The bipartisan Telehealth Expansion Act, making specific COVID-19-era telehealth provisions permanent, would cost $5 billion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office, The Hill reported June 27.

Eight-eight percent of U.S. physicians said telemedicine has been a vital tool in helping patients access healthcare, particularly in patient populations that have historically faced barriers to care, according to a June 29 report from digital healthcare platform Doximity. 

Cleveland Clinic's new $80 million hospital in Mentor, Ohio, will have telehealth technology installed in inpatient and outpatient rooms, which will allow patients to consult remotely with physicians from different locations, Ideastream Public Media reported June 28. 

The Justice Department has charged 11 individuals in connection with telehealth fraud schemes that resulted in more than $2 billion in false claims.

Hospitals and health systems are increasingly turning to virtual nursing as a way to combat the nursing workforce shortage. Here are three hospitals and health systems who have expanded their virtual nursing throughout their organizations and across states:

Telehealth has helped transform care for Boston Children's Hospital patients who no longer have to endure the stress of traveling for every appointment. Just ask 5-year-old Weston Mahady.

Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanderbilt University Medical Center checks in on high-risk chronic disease patients with telehealth calls from a registered nurse to try to keep them out of the hospital.

As big health systems have turned to virtual nursing to help with staffing shortages and reduce administrative tasks for nurses, Kaiser Permanente has taken a slightly different approach. The Oakland, Calif.-based health system has its nurses communicate with patients via…

The pandemic influenced the greatest number of acquisitions, implementations and usage of digital health technologies, but some hospital and health system leaders said they are only moderately satisfied with their telehealth investments, a June 13 report from Panda Health found. 

Children's Hospital Los Angeles is partnering with the Los Angeles Unified School District to offer virtual care to CHLA patients 12 or older attending one of the 20 participating Los Angeles schools.