New Home Telehealth Article Now Available on the TIE

The Approaching Telehealth Revolution in Home Care is updated examination of the current state of home care and how telehealth is effective tool for improving patient care and creating cost saving efficiencies. Look for this telehealth article and more in the TIE's article section.

Medicare to Pay for Telemedicine for Nursing Home Patients

Medicare will now pay for nursing home patients to be treated by telemedicine, reducing the number of expensive trips to the hospital. The new federal rule allows nursing homes to charge a $20 facility fee for each patient using telemedicine. The new Medicare reimbursement rule takes effect in January. The change also expands telemedicine coverage to community mental health centers and renal dialysis facilities. More information is available here.

New Home Telehealth Primer Now Available on TIE

A new Home Telehealth Primer has recently been published on the TIE's article section. The Home Telehealth Primer provides an overview and introduction to the use of telecommunications technology to provide care services to a patient in their home. It includes information on technology, patient assessment, and Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement polices.

The Telemedicine Information Exchange welcomes submissions of original articles on topics appropriate for this website. Possible subjects might include commentary on telemedicine/telehealth issues or policy, reports of current research projects, or new applications of telemedicine/telehealth.

Forthcoming Report Says Home Telehealth Market Is $5.6 Billion and Expected to Grow by 70%

The home telehealth and remote patient monitoring market is currently close to a $5.6 billion level and will continue to grow at close to 70% for at least the next three to five years, according to a new strategic report published by Insight and Intelligence, a Mary Ann Liebert company. Insight and Intelligence interviewed industry leaders, conducted surveys, utilized government and other agency databases, as well as reviews of published literature to provide an in-depth look at the home telehealth and remote patient monitoring market segment of the telemedicine industry.

The healthcare provider market segment (companies that provide telemedicine services to health care providers) is represented by a number of small to medium-sized companies with average annual revenue of approximately $6.6 million. These companies' combined average revenue growth, however, is significant, approaching 72%. Consumer companies (defined as companies that provide services directly to the consumer) tend to be larger with combined average annual revenue of approximately $121.3 million. Their combined annual revenue growth is even more explosive than that of healthcare provider companies, with a combined average range of 118.5% to 193.5%.

The full report will be available in late June from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

(Source: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Press Release, May 22, 2008)

Telehealth Community Asked to Urge Congress to pass the Medicare Telehealth Improvement Act, S. 2812

The telehealth community is asked to urge Congress to pass the Medicare Telehealth Improvement Act, S. 2812. This federal telehealth legislation was introduced on April 3 by Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) and is currently co-sponsored by Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and John Thune (R-SD).

S. 2812 would expand the existing Medicare telehealth program in several important ways.

First, the bill would increase the list of eligible originating sites to include skilled nursing facilities, dialysis centers and community mental health centers. In addition to improving care in these facilities, there are significant cost savings achieved by avoiding transporting medically fragile patients.

Second, S. 2812 would expand the list of authorized providers in the Medicare telehealth program to include physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, audiologists and diabetes educators.

Finally, S. 2812 would improve the process of reviewing services to determine if they are appropriate for Medicare telehealth reimbursement by creating an advisory committee of practicing telehealth providers. Medicare would retain the final decision making authority, but they would have the benefit of the advice of actual telehealth providers.

Please contact your 2 U.S. Senators and urge them to co-sponsor S. 2812.