Virtual care news, trends and reimbursement updates
Telehealth news covering program growth, utilization and payment. Becker's tracks telehealth reimbursement policy at the federal and state level and how virtual care fits into health system strategy.
Telehealth
The American Telemedicine Association launched a task force to investigate sustainable virtual care practices.
Bennington-based Southwestern Vermont Medical Center has initiated a telemedicine program with Lebanon, N.H.-based Dartmouth-Hitchcock.
Roughly 19 percent of consumers have used a virtual provider, although interest in the capability is growing, according to an Advisory Board survey.
U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, introduced a bipartisan bill that would incentive non-rural hospitals serving rural patients to expand their telehealth services.
Teladoc entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Best Doctors, a medical consultation company focused on complex and costly medical issues.
The VA Northern Indiana Health Care System facility in Fort Wayne connected its intensive care unit and emergency room to a Department of Veterans Affairs teleICU hub in Cincinnati June 14, The Journal Gazette reports.
Most (92 percent) rural diabetes patients who received telehealth services reported they were "very satisfied" with their care, a new study found.
California Department of Workers' Compensation approved Harbor Health Systems — a IT company that supports medical provider network in California — to offer telemedicine services.
Sunrise, Fla.-based telehealth provider MDLive partnered with DermatologistOnCall, which offers virtual dermatology visits.
Florida's new medical marijuana legislation places limitations on telemedicine reports the Sun Sentinel.