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Introduction Telehealth, the provision of health care services to patients from providers who are not at the same location, has experienced a rapid escalation in use during the COVID-19 pandemic, among both privately-insured patients and Medicare beneficiaries. Before the pandemic, coverage of telehealth services under traditional Medicare was limited to more»

Telemedicine has for years been touted as providing access to healthcare for everyone, anywhere, anytime and it has been quite successful in doing so in many respects but disparities still exist among a number of patient populations. In particular, those who traditionally have challenges accessing healthcare due to physical challenges often experience more»

Intermountain Healthcare released a study last week on the clinical effectiveness of using telehealth for physical therapy (PT) after hip surgery. The study found that telehealth is just as clinically effective as in-person care and it costs less to administer. The study, which took place pre-COVID-19, split patients into three groups. Group 1 did mostly more»

When the covid-19 pandemic forced behavioral health providers to stop seeing patients in person and instead hold therapy sessions remotely, the switch produced an unintended, positive consequence: Fewer patients skipped appointments. That had long been a problem in mental health care. Some outpatient programs previously had no-show rates as high as 60%, more»

A wide-ranging study published in the Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare this past month found that telehealth can be an effective modality of care for patients over 60, particularly when deployed in the confines of their existing primary care provider. When researchers, including a team from the West Health Institute, which focuses on addressing the more»

Dr. Paul Szotek of the Indiana Hernia Center in Carmel, Indiana, has some very strong feelings about what he calls the loss of the doctor-patient relationship. THE PROBLEM The corporate takeover of healthcare and the exodus of physicians from private practice into employed positions, combined with sub-par deployment of electronic health records and more»

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many Americans received care from their primary care physicians via telemedicine. It was just another adjustment forced on people as a result of the terrible virus. But it worked. And physicians and patients alike discovered there were many things they could accomplish over a video connection. Telehealth technology and more»

Reps. Jason Smith, R-Mo., and Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., introduced legislation this week to ensure Medicare enrollees have expanded access to telehealth. HR 3447, or the "Permanency for Audio-Only Telehealth Act," would allow for Medicare coverage of audio-only telehealth services after the COVID-19 public health emergency. "The COVID-19 pandemic more»