Telehealth

Kaiser Permanente and Intermountain were some of the earliest adopters of telemedicine and have been using virtual methods to improve health outcomes, lower medical cost and free up bed space. In a May 2022 Harvard Business Review article, Robert Pearl,…

Renton, Wash.-based Providence has conducted more than 3 million telehealth visits since March 2020 and is working to expand that service, according to its telehealth annual report.

Windber, Pa.-based Chan Soon-Shiong Medical Center is in the process of creating a new telehealth program equipped with monitoring technology, The Tribune-Democrat reported April 15.

As health systems emerge from the pandemic, many are asking strategic questions such as: What business do we want to be in? What roles do virtual and hybrid care play? What do we do ourselves and where do we partner?

Phoenix-based Banner Health is piloting a telehealth program aimed at increasing access to obstetrical care for rural patients.

Remote care has a long and storied history. In The Lancet, an article from 1879 describes, “doctor’s appointments through the telephone to avoid unnecessary office visits”. And in the US, acute care in the home has been written about for…

National telehealth use among individuals with private health insurance grew 10.2 percent from December to January, up from 4.9 percent of all medical claim lines to 5.4 percent, according to an April 6 Fair Health report. 

Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Healthcare and Broomfield, Colo.-based SCL Health's completed merger will expand telehealth and innovation efforts, news outlets reported April 4.

Before the pandemic, telehealth made up less than 1 percent of visits across all specialties. COVID-19 accelerated demand for these services, immediately increasing in 2020 to 8 percent of primary care visits and 3 percent of specialty care visits. 

The Government Accountability Office on March 31 recommended CMS assess the effect increased telehealth use is having on the quality of care received by Medicaid beneficiaries.