Telehealth

Also known as telemedicine, this area of care helps connect doctors and patients remotely, without requiring in-person visits. This virtual care strategy is beneficial for managing chronic conditions, delivering lab test or diagnostic imaging results, post-surgical follow-ups, assessing skin conditions, online counseling and many other healthcare services. It also can improve care, care access and outcomes for patients.

UnitedHealth agrees to $1.8M settlement over robocall complaint
The unwanted spam calls were associated with Optum's home healthcare service. Plaintiffs alleged they received the marketing calls despite opting out and never signing up, in violation of federal consumer protection laws. The company does not admit to wrongdoing.
Creating real-time telebreast imaging that includes remote patient consults
Arlene Sussman, MD, medical director with vRad, explains a telebreast imaging system that allows patients direct video consults with a remote radiologist just after their exams to increase personalized care and answer questions immediately.
Amazon One Medical employees viewed health data of man in wrongful death case
One Medical, a chain of primary care clinics owned by Amazon, is being sued by the family of a man who died due to alleged provider negligence. Now, court filings reveal staff improperly accessed the deceased man's protected medical records.
Doctor gets prison time, $20M fine for fraudulent telehealth prescriptions
John R. Manning, MD, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud for issuing unnecessary prescriptions billed to Medicare and receiving more than $812,000 in kickbacks.
Q&A: Rising cancer rates in young people exacerbated by provider shortage
In exclusive interviews, HealthExec spoke with the American Cancer Society about rising cancer rates, and a virtual provider service that's working to bolster struggling oncology staff.

Telehealth could support caregiver experience—but quality evidence is lacking

Previous studies on the impact telehealth tools had on caregiver support showed potential benefits, but evidence of quality is lacking, according to a new systematic review.

ICU telehealth reduces interhospital transfers

Intensive care unit (ICU) telehealth was associated with fewer transfers of patients with moderate, moderate-to-high and high illness severity. Findings were published June 15 in Chest.

FCC introduces funding increase for rural telehealth

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai introduced a draft order to increase funding allocated to the Universal Service Fund’s Rural Health Care Program.

Telehealth market to reach $48.8B by 2023, growing at 14.8% per year

The telehealth global market is expected to reach $48.8 billion by 2023, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 14.8 percent between 2018 and 2023, according to a report conducted by P&S Market Research.

Nurses satisfied with telehealth in treatment of chronic disease

Nurses working at a home care agency were satisfied with the quality of telehealth services in delivering care to patients managing chronic diseases, according to a study published May 25 in JMIR Informatics.

Telehealth increases patient participation in genetic counseling

More patients preferred using telehealth to complete genetic counseling than usual methods, according to a study presented at the 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.

Telehealth saves $4.1M for Spectrum Health

The implementation of telehealth services has saved Spectrum Health, one of Michigan’s largest health systems, more than $4 million in three years.

American Academy of Pediatrics selects SnapMD as telehealth provider

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has selected SnapMD as its provider of telehealth technology.

Telehealth

UnitedHealth agrees to $1.8M settlement over robocall complaint

Creating real-time telebreast imaging that includes remote patient consults

Amazon One Medical employees viewed health data of man in wrongful death case

Doctor gets prison time, $20M fine for fraudulent telehealth prescriptions

Q&A: Rising cancer rates in young people exacerbated by provider shortage