This week was mHealth + Telehealth 2015 World and the presentations certainly indicated that these newer technologies are making a big mark on healthcare.

The focus on value-based compensation “turns our business model upside down and opens the door for all kinds of virtual care options,” said Joseph Kvedar, MD, vice president of connected health for Partners HealthCare.

Providers are no longer bound by in-person encounters—something “we all need to be taking seriously and planning for.”

Wearables have grown rapidly and now it’s easy to get data out of such devices and certainly to display them for patients, he said. That effort is worth the time. “We have to reevaluate the importance of tracking people throughout their life, not just when they’re in the office or the hospital.”

Providers need to get beyond this idea that patient-generated data is only for the fit and well, he said, because it actually represents the 99 percent of patients’ lives not spent in the hospital or a doctor’s office. “That’s clinicians in the 21^st century have to think about it.”

In another presentation, Nathaniel Lacktman, JD, partner at Foley & Lardner, said telehealth expands the concept of reimbursement.

“Do not give into the fearmongering,” he said. “People have been doing this. There are business models out there working. Do not believe that patchwork quilt presents such a high level of risk that it’s a barrier to developing a meaningful program.” Telehealth is not just a tool to enhance traditional healthcare delivery. “It can do so much more. If you start to look at it that way, you really see these business models significantly expanding.”

Lacktman said the word reimbursement connotes government payment on a fee-for-service methodology. By changing the conversation to value and revenue, “you see all these payment options.” Fee-for-service provides zero incentive for telehealth, he noted.

The telemedicine program at the University of Virginia has been operating for about 20 years, said Karen Rheuban, MD, medical director of the Office of Telemedicine, and now fields 48,000 encounters a year, has 352 partner sites and 63 clinical specialties and saved patients 16.5 million travel miles in the state.

She also suggested organizations track their metrics which are “really important when you’re trying to negotiate with payers.” UVA, for example, increased the use of tPA by 19 percent through its telestroke effort and reduced by 38 percent its NICU hospital days. They also decreased their 30-day readmission rate by 43 percent. “Make a case for the specific needs in your state.”

These are just a few examples of all the experiences and lessons learned shared during the conference. I hope you enjoyed the coverage.

Beth Walsh

Editor
Clinical Innovation + Technology