Ask the Experts

Ask the Experts

• What the CMS 2025 PFS proposed rule means for virtual care

  The 2025 PFS proposed rule extends existing virtual care payment rules and introduces new codes for digital therapeutics, highlighting virtual care's lasting role in healthcare.  Continue Reading

• Deploying a collaborative telemental healthcare model in Oklahoma

  A telehealth platform is connecting community behavioral health centers and law enforcement in Oklahoma to expand much-needed mental healthcare access.  Continue Reading

• How a free virtual clinic is boosting mental health access in Virginia

  Following a successful pilot, a free telemental health clinic is expanding to provide underserved Virginia residents with quicker access to mental healthcare.    Continue Reading

• Examining the limitations of the current telehealth market

  In a new podcast, healthcare economist Dr. Sanjula Jain tracks the trajectory of telehealth through the pandemic, detailing the current parameters of the market.  Continue Reading

• How stakeholders are preparing for a new era in digital healthcare

  Digital healthcare leaders see the need to evolve alongside the fast-changing industry, gleaning insights from failures and adjusting strategy.  Continue Reading

• Scaling a pandemic-era RPM program into a virtual continuum of care

  Wellstar MCG Health’s RPM program may have been launched to mitigate pandemic-related capacity issues but has since evolved to a comprehensive remote care model.  Continue Reading

• How PA’s virtual-first center of excellence is bolstering OUD care

  Armed with a PA center of excellence designation, virtual care provider Ophelia aims to expand medication-assisted treatment access for opioid use disorder.  Continue Reading

• PHTI validates virtual MSK solutions after taking diabetes tools to task

  The Peterson Health Technology Institute's latest evaluation shows that virtual MSK solutions drive meaningful clinical improvements and healthcare cost savings.     Continue Reading

• How Houston Methodist is scaling inpatient RPM across its hospitals  

  The health system considered several factors to successfully deploy and scale BioIntelliSense’s RPM tool, which has helped improve patient and clinician experience.  Continue Reading

• Studying the effects of at-home heart failure care in rural America

  A two-year project aims to examine heart failure care in rural areas and pilot a home-based cardiac rehabilitation program to expand access to specialty care.  Continue Reading

• What OSF HealthCare considers when making digital health tech decisions

  At ATA Nexus, a leader from the Illinois-based health system detailed its digital health strategy amid evolving virtual care demands and technology options.  Continue Reading

• Alleviating stress among racial minorities during pregnancy with VR

  Virtual reality tools could play a key role in maternal mental healthcare, with research showing it can help reduce stress among pregnant people of color.  Continue Reading

• How telehealth is boosting care access among NYC’s homeless population

  NYC Health + Hospitals has deployed its virtual urgent care service in homeless shelters citywide, enabling thousands to access physical and behavioral healthcare.  Continue Reading

• Can health systems help push digital health development forward?

  Health systems are uniquely suited to developing clinically effective digital health tools, but they must first navigate the complexities of technology development.  Continue Reading

• Employing telehealth to ease the hospice transition for kids with cancer

  Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta is using telehealth to bring coordinated hospice services and its benefits to children with terminal cancer and their families.  Continue Reading

• Using telehealth to provide timely mental healthcare in rural Illinois

  An OSF HealthCare leader discusses how telehealth services can help extend mental health assessments to patients seeking behavioral healthcare in EDs.  Continue Reading

• Why Ochsner & Humana struck an RPM partnership for chronic care

  The provider-payer partnership will provide Humana’s Medicaid beneficiaries in Louisiana access to Ochsner’s digital care programs for diabetes and hypertension.  Continue Reading

• Establishing a telehealth alliance to boost rural healthcare access

  Virtual care provider Eagle Telemedicine has launched an alliance that enables rural hospitals to share costs and resources for virtual specialty care services.  Continue Reading

• How ChristianaCare’s digital cardiac care program is closing racial gaps

  The digital hybrid care approach targeting heart failure and hypertension has resulted in significant improvements in clinical outcomes among Black patients.  Continue Reading

• Creating a community-led telehealth approach for supportive cancer care

  Tennessee Oncology is joining forces with rural patients to explore strategies for expanding telehealth access to supportive cancer care services.  Continue Reading

• How a virtual-first approach can boost patient, provider experience

  Tufts Medicine launched a virtual-first initiative that offers digital triage and telehealth services, connecting patients to in-person care only when necessary.  Continue Reading

• Why UC Davis is turning to mHealth tech for post-angioplasty care

  UC Davis Health has launched an at-home digital care program for patients after an angioplasty to enhance clinical outcomes for this high-risk population.  Continue Reading

• Overcoming the Digital Divide Through Community-Based Telehealth

  Parkland Health and URMC leaders discuss their recently established community-based telehealth resources to improve healthcare access.  Continue Reading

• How an FQHC is Using RPM to Care for its High-Risk Patient Population

  Through a recent partnership, the Arizona-based health center will deploy RPM services to care for its diverse and vulnerable patient population.    Continue Reading

• Developing a New ‘EyePhone’ mHealth App for Stroke Detection

  A new eye-tracking smartphone app can help detect strokes with non-specific symptoms, like dizziness, enabling more timely and effective stroke care.  Continue Reading

• Using VR to Create an Immersive Mental Health Support System

  Cedars-Sinai investigators have created a virtual reality app driven by generative AI and spatial computing that aims to enhance the talk therapy experience.  Continue Reading

• A Deep Dive into CA’s mHealth Effort to Support Youth Mental Health

  California’s latest behavioral healthcare effort brings tools, resources, education, and support to youth where they are most often — on their mobile devices.  Continue Reading

• What the NJ Lawsuit Adds to Out-of-State Telehealth, Licensure Debates

  A recent lawsuit highlights physician and patient demand for expanded access to out-of-state telehealth, underscoring the ongoing debates around licensure.    Continue Reading

• Developing Simulation-Based Telehealth Training for Next-Gen Nurses

  OSF HealthCare and Illinois State University are launching a telehealth training program for nurses that offers simulations of virtual visits with trained actors.  Continue Reading

• Leveraging an mHealth App to Improve Maternal Outcomes in Michigan

  A customized version of a pregnancy app is helping Medicaid-eligible families in Michigan connect to state resources to improve maternal health outcomes.  Continue Reading

• How Virtual Nursing Can Help Fortify a Workforce in Crisis

  Leaders from three healthcare organizations detail their virtual nursing efforts, how these are impacting their nurses, and the challenges to implementation.  Continue Reading

• Using a Smartphone Attachment to Make Neurological Screenings Equitable

  UC San Diego engineers developed a new tool that attaches to smartphone cameras that can enable assessments of neurological conditions regardless of eye color.  Continue Reading

• How a Provider-Police Collab is Expanding Virtual Mental Health Access

  In Baraga County, Michigan, law enforcement and healthcare providers have come together to launch a virtual care model that extends access to mental healthcare.  Continue Reading

• Using Virtual Care Tech to Curb Care Barriers in Rural South Carolina

  Clemson Rural Health is leveraging telehealth and remote patient monitoring to expand healthcare access amid rural health challenges, such as provider shortages.  Continue Reading

• ‘Getting Heads in Headsets’: Exploring Virtual Reality Use in the VA

  The VA is strategically investing in healthcare VR technology to boost mental and physical healthcare among veterans and enhance staff experience.  Continue Reading

• How Best Buy Will Help Mass General Brigham Scale At-Home Healthcare

  Per the new partnership, the health system will implement the Current Health platform and work with Best Buy Health to develop new hospital-at-home solutions.  Continue Reading

• How Virtual Reality Can Help Tackle ‘Scanxiety’ Among Cancer Patients

  The National Cancer Institute is studying whether VR tools could help cancer patients better manage their anxiety before and after imaging scans.  Continue Reading

• Walgreens' Virtual Care Launch Signals Retailers’ Healthcare Edge  

  Walgreens enters virtual care on the heels of Costco and Walmart, pointing to retailers’ upper hand in offering omnichannel patient access and experience.  Continue Reading

• Using Telehealth to Address Side Effects of Cancer Immunotherapy

  Duke Health’s award-winning telehealth service improved care and lowered hospitalizations among cancer patients with endocrine immune-related adverse events.  Continue Reading

• In a Maturing Digital Health Market, Players Must Adapt Their Game Plan

  The market no longer boasts the record-high deals and funding of 2021, leaving digital health players to revise their strategies for navigating the landscape.  Continue Reading

• Why an Orthopedic Clinic Opened a Virtual Practice in the Metaverse

  The HandSport Surgery Institute aims to boost awareness of its services and reach potential patients through its new practice in the Decentraland metaverse.  Continue Reading

• Using Translational Research to Support the Evolution of Virtual Care

  The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has launched a new center to advance virtual care sustainability and health equity through translation research efforts.  Continue Reading

• How the VA's Teleneurology Program Mitigates Care Access Challenges

  Research shows that the VA's teleneurology program expanded access to timely care for rural veterans, which could support broader efforts in this area.  Continue Reading

• Scaling an RPM Program to Enhance Chronic Disease Management

  Prisma Health is expanding its remote patient monitoring program after a slew of positive clinical results, but expansion involves significant change management.  Continue Reading

• Expanding Virtual Care Access for Sexual Assault Survivors in Texas

  A forensic nurse leader discusses a new telehealth clinic that aims to boost access to trauma-informed follow-up care among sexual assault survivors.  Continue Reading

• How Mount Sinai is Boosting the Digital Healthcare Experience

  The health system recently launched three new digital tools to support care navigation, triage, and empower patients seeking healthcare.  Continue Reading

• Why the Hospital-at-Home Model is a High Priority for ChristianaCare

  ChristianaCare's hospital-at-home program has cared for more than 500 patients since December 2021, resulting in high patient satisfaction and improved outcomes.  Continue Reading

• Exploring Digital Health Funding Strategies at Cleveland Clinic, UPMC

  Health system venture fund leaders discussed their investment strategy, how it changed during the pandemic, and their plans for the post-PHE era.    Continue Reading

• Why a New Provider Collaborative is Going All-in on Hybrid Care

  Caire Collaborative aims to engage health systems to co-design hybrid care models and virtual care solutions to ease numerous burdens, including burnout.  Continue Reading

• Understanding the RPM Market: Where It's At & Where It's Going

  Healthcare stakeholders are increasingly turning to RPM, but as the market evolves, companies must differentiate their solutions with a focus on adding value.  Continue Reading

• How Providence is Leveraging RPM to Alleviate Clinician Burnout

  The health system's virtual care chief discusses the expansion of RPM to improve chronic disease management and how it plans to implement the services without adding to clinician burdens.     Continue Reading

• Enhancing Patient Access, Experience at Virtual Care's Front Door

  Virtual care leaders must address staffing, technology, and health equity challenges to ensure continued access and patient satisfaction in a post-pandemic healthcare landscape.  Continue Reading

• How This Early Adopter Leverages, Bills for Remote Therapeutic Monitoring

  A New Jersey-based orthopedics physician discusses the implementation of remote therapeutic monitoring in his practice and the lessons he has learned in billing for the services.  Continue Reading

• Addressing Hospital-at-Home Implementation Hurdles

  While the benefits of hospital-at-home programs are becoming apparent, providers may face several barriers to implementation, including developing and updating clinical workflows.  Continue Reading

• Leveraging a Digital Health App to Address Anemia, Maternal Health

  A startup is creating a smartphone app that can measure blood hemoglobin, enabling early detection and treatment of various conditions, such as anemia, which is common in the postpartum period.  Continue Reading

• Using School-Based Telehealth to Boost Mental Health Access in LA County

  A new partnership between county agencies, health plans, and a telehealth provider aims to expand access to telemental healthcare for over 1 million children attending LA County public schools.  Continue Reading

• How a Telehealth Partnership is Expanding Critical Care for Newborns

  A partnership between two hospitals is leveraging telehealth to expand intensive care access for newborns in New Mexico, enabling infants and their families to stay close to home.  Continue Reading

• How Telehealth Policy is Evolving at the State Level

  State-level telehealth policy will continue to evolve in 2023, with experts noting potential policy changes related to physician licensure, virtual prescribing, and audio-only telehealth.  Continue Reading

• How Enabled Health Plans to Use Virtual Care to Help Seniors Age in Place

  Enabled Health, a hybrid care company that launched last week, aims to leverage telehealth and remote patient monitoring to reduce hospitalizations and improve chronic care management among seniors.  Continue Reading

• How One FQHC is Using Telehealth, RPM to Alleviate Staffing Challenges

  An FQHC in West Virginia implemented a telehealth solution and chronic care-focused RPM platform, helping it mitigate staffing challenges and extend care in a rural, medically underserved area.  Continue Reading

• Carbon Health Bets on Virtual Primary Care with New Model Launch in MA

  Carbon Health's new Connective Care model, which BCBS of Massachusetts launched on Jan. 1, leverages virtual care modalities, like remote patient monitoring, in a bid to innovate primary care.   Continue Reading

• Ensuring Telehealth Implementation Doesn't Exacerbate Clinician Burnout

  Healthcare leaders state that telehealth can both reduce and increase burnout, but there are several steps organizations can take to avoid the latter, including addressing workflow challenges.  Continue Reading

• How the Virtual Care Landscape is Expected to Evolve Next Year

  The virtual care arena has evolved rapidly over the course of the pandemic, but market experts predict a cooldown in activity, prompting the need to solidify the business case for telehealth.  Continue Reading

• How Health Systems Are Using RPM to Extend Cancer Care into Patient Homes

  Ochsner, Huntsman Cancer Institute, and Mount Sinai are leveraging remote patient monitoring to cut hospitalizations and improve outcomes among cancer patients, but hurdles like lack of payment models may hinder progress.  Continue Reading

• How Wearables Can Enhance Cardiac Care, Boost Patient Engagement  

  Wearables use in cardiac care is growing, enabling clinicians to track patient metrics remotely and customize care, but challenges remain, including the accuracy of the data being collected.  Continue Reading

• Using Telehealth to Boost Abortion Access in a Post-Roe World

  Reproductive health providers are leveraging telehealth to expand access to medication abortions, but several challenges stand in the way of widespread access, including the digital divide.  Continue Reading

• Ensuring Care Continuity Through an EHR-Integrated Telehealth Platform

  To enhance continuity of care and patient access, a Michigan-based health system deployed an Epic-integrated virtual care platform, overcoming hurdles such as complications with contracting.  Continue Reading

• How a New Clinical Innovation Fellowship Will Support RPM, Referrals Management

  Established by Providence and Microsoft, the fellowship will support projects related to RPM use in chronic care management and digital tools to streamline primary care referrals.  Continue Reading

• Amazon Poised to Disrupt Virtual Care For a Niche Few

  Amazon has proven itself a healthcare contender, and it appears likely to disrupt virtual care, but its moves so far may only end up benefitting an urban, commercially insured consumer niche.  Continue Reading

• How Telehealth Can Help Bridge Pediatric Mental Healthcare Gaps

  Telehealth can help providers expand access to much-needed pediatric mental health resources, but expansion must avoid common pitfalls that could inadvertently widen care gaps.  Continue Reading

• Enhancing Care for Kids with Genetic Conditions Through Telehealth

  New research shows that telehealth can be used to effectively care for pediatric patients with genetic conditions, but the implementation considerations and challenges of virtual care remain.  Continue Reading

• How FQHCs Are Combating the Digital Divide in Telehealth, Remote Monitoring

  The benefits afforded by telehealth and remote patient monitoring remain out of reach for certain populations, but FQHCs are working on expanding access and making virtual care more equitable.  Continue Reading

• Leveraging Telehospitalists in the Age of COVID-19

  Providence expanded its telehospitalist program to include cross-cover capabilities and daytime coverage at smaller facilities, helping them manage COVID-19-related volume surges during the pandemic.  Continue Reading

• How Telehealth Helped Keep ACOs Afloat During the Pandemic

  As in-person care fell and regulatory flexibilities for virtual care were enacted during the pandemic, ACOs began relying more heavily on telehealth to care for patients and meet their financial goals.  Continue Reading

• How Mayo, Geisinger, IU Health Train Their At-Home Care Providers

  As home-based healthcare programs grow more popular, providers have fine-tuned their training processes, which often include hands-on simulations, virtual classrooms, and equipment education.  Continue Reading

• Using Hospital-At-Home Services to Lower Readmissions, Increase Capacity

  A safety-net health system leveraged its home hospital program, launched a few months before the Omicron surge, to bring acute care to patients and alleviate capacity challenges.  Continue Reading

• Keeping Health Equity Top-of-Mind in Remote Patient Monitoring Programs

  As providers ramp up RPM programs, they are working to ensure access within underserved communities and overcome hurdles like reimbursement and SDOH challenges.  Continue Reading

• How Digital Therapeutics Will Evolve in 2022 and Beyond

  The digital therapeutics arena has been steadily gaining ground, backed by growing clinical evidence, and leaders in the space believe that it will become a new standard of care.  Continue Reading

• Island Health Expands Its Remote Patient Monitoring Strategy

  Canada's Island Health system has launched a remote patient monitoring platform that seeks to include any patient who can be monitored at home, rather than focusing on a specific population.  Continue Reading

• Telehealth Access to Mental Health Specialists Can Be a 'Game-Changer' in the ED

  At Florida's Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital, access to mental health specialists via telehealth has not only helped the busy emergency department speed up care, but improve the quality of care those patients receive.  Continue Reading

• MetroHealth's Institute for HOPE Takes Connected Health to a New Level

  The Cleveland-based health system is forging new partnerships and launching programs that address the social determinants of health, sometimes through remote patient monitoring or telehealth platforms that boost access to care.  Continue Reading

• Remote Patient Monitoring Offers More Than Just Population Health Benefits

  For one Utah doctor, a remote patient monitoring platform is helping him and his staff make chronic care management more personal - and effective.  Continue Reading

• Using Telehealth as a Platform to Tackle Social Barriers to Progress

  The pandemic cast a sharp spotlight on social determinants of health. Now groups like Beam Up are using telehealth to address the barriers that keep people from growing and improving.  Continue Reading

• A California FQHC Plots its Path to Telehealth and RPM Sustainability

  The Northeast Valley Health Corporation is building off a virtual care strategy launched during the pandemic to develop telehealth and remote patient monitoring programs that address barriers to care for its underserved patients.  Continue Reading

• CMS Expands Remote Patient Monitoring Coverage in Proposed 2022 PFS

  CMS has added coverage for 'remote therapeutic monitoring' services in its proposed 2022 Physician Fee Schedule, but for health systems with remote patient monitoring programs, there are still questions about reimbursement.  Continue Reading

• UMass Memorial Eyes Telehealth, RPM Benefits in New Hospital at Home Program

  UMass Memorial Health will soon launch a new program that integrates telehealth, remote patient monitoring and in-person care to treat patients at home rather than in the hospital.  Continue Reading

• Ochsner Health Takes Remote Patient Monitoring to a National Level

  The New Orleans health system is marketing its remote patient monitoring programs to businesses and health plans across the country, and will soon expand the platform to cover more chronic health conditions.  Continue Reading

• Second Opinions Via Telehealth Have Value to Patients and Providers

  The Clinic by Cleveland Clinic is using telehealth to offer second opinions, a service that benefits not only the patient but the primary care provider as well.  Continue Reading

• Uncertain Telehealth Laws Keep Substance Abuse Care Providers on Their Toes

  Providers specializing in substance abuse care are using telehealth for services like MAT therapy, but the shifting landscape of post-COVID-19 telehealth rules may force them to scale back those plans.  Continue Reading

• Banner Health Eyes Connected Health Strategy With Digital Health Formulary

  The Arizona-based health system has launched a digital health program that allows providers to prescribe apps and services for remote patient monitoring and other platforms.  Continue Reading

• Remote Patient Monitoring Promotes Chronic Care Management, Home Health

  Remote patient monitoring solutions can play a critical role in chronic care management and home health programs that work to drive down care costs and improve patient outcomes.  Continue Reading

• Asynchronous Telehealth Can Extend Primary Care at Community Health Networks

  At one community health network, asynchronous telehealth is expanding access to primary care services for patients.  Continue Reading

• Is the Time Right for Skilled Nursing Facilities to Embrace Telehealth?

  The pandemic has given skilled nursing facilities an opportunity to embrace telehealth. Are they ready now to prove sustainability and scalability?  Continue Reading

• Q&A: How a Brooklyn Clinic Developed Its Virtual Care Strategy

  Oula launched in 2019 and started seeing patients in 2020. The prenatal clinic's co-founder and CEO explains how they developed a virtual care strategy and are now transitioning to a hybrid platform.  Continue Reading

• Wellstar Uses Remote Patient Monitoring to Create Partnerships With Patients

  The Atlanta-based health system is finding that a remote patient monitoring program involves a lot more than collecting and using data, and that relationships play a role in seeing success.  Continue Reading

• California Provider Sees Telehealth as an Integral Part of PACE Programs

  WelbeHealth President Matt Patterson says COVID-19 has taught the industry a good lesson on how to use telehealth, and it should be a permanent part of the senior care service.  Continue Reading

• Digital Duds: The mHealth Wearable Market Looks to Sensor-Embedded Clothing

  mHealth wearables have often focused on watches, wristbands and jewelry. Now the spotlight is shining on sensor-embedded clothing that can help providers track movement and other health data.  Continue Reading

• Maine Home Health Program Uses Telehealth, RPM to Combat Loneliness

  Androscoggin Home Healthcare & Hospice has launched a new program through its remote patient monitoring platform that connects lonely and isolated patients with volunteers to talk about whatever they want to talk about.  Continue Reading

• Providers Adapt to Telehealth to Identify Signs of Child Abuse and Neglect

  With the pandemic cutting out in-person care and curbing wellness checkups, healthcare providers are using telehealth platforms to try and identify - and treat - cases of child abuse and neglect.  Continue Reading

• South Shore Health Leverages Telehealth, RPM in New 'SNF at Home' Program

  The Massachusetts health system is integrating remote patient monitoring tools into its year-old Mobile Integrated Health platform to improve care at home for patients with complex health concerns.  Continue Reading