Telehealth

Hershey, Pa.-based Penn State Health, Pittsburgh-based Highmark Health and Nashville, Tenn.-based Contessa, an acute care company, inked a joint hospital-at-home venture.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge, University of Birmingham and other U.K.-based hospitals and universities launched a study to gauge clinicians' and patients' perception of virtual visits, according to a Nov. 2 report published in Oxford Academic.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina is keeping its telehealth coverage policy after witnessing a 7,500 percent increase in its utilization in 2020. 

Lake Forest, Ill.-based Trustmark Health Benefits is offering a virtual-first health plan through a collaboration with Teladoc Health.

More than 230 healthcare organizations recently penned a letter to all 50 state governors urging action on expiring state licensure flexibilities, which have helped increase access to telehealth services during the pandemic. 

Best Buy Health has been launching products and pursuing partnerships focused on remote patient monitoring in 2021. Here are four key examples:

Cricket Health tapped former Optum Health executive Ryan Jacobs as its chief commercial officer.

Telehealth use among individuals with private health insurance increased by 2.4 percent across almost all U.S. census regions in July, according to healthcare data cost organization Fair Health. 

The American Telemedicine Association rallied a group of more than 50 providers, health plans and technology companies to ask Congress to expand regulatory flexibilities that let telehealth and remote care services be treated as a benefit for certain employees. 

During the pandemic, healthcare organizations embraced telehealth to ensure they could provide access and high quality care to their patients.