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)

New Economic Analysis of Email-Based Telemedicine Available

Email-based telemedicine has been reported to be an efficient method of delivering online health services to patients at a distance and is often described as a low-cost form of telemedicine. A new study by researchers at the Center for Online Health at the University of Queensland, Australia, finds that the service may be low-cost if the healthcare organization utilizes their existing email infrastructure to provide their telemedicine service. When the workload exceeded 5216 email consultations per annum, there were savings made when a purpose-written email application was used.

The full analysis was published by the open access journal BioMed Central and the full report is available for free download [pdf].

(Source: BioMed Central, May 22, 2008)

International Telemedicine Nonprofit Organization to Treat 30,000 Child

The Medical Missions for Children charity (MMC) recently announced that will treat its 30,000th child via telehealth in June. The organization has created what it calls the Global Telemedicine & Teaching Network to enable U.S.-based doctors to consult with foreign pediatric physicians through a distance-medicine network called the Telemedicine Outreach Program so they can help diagnose and treat children worldwide. Technology also has allowed MMC to expand its services to include educational content for health care providers and patients in multiple countries.

Read more here.

Still Time Left to Apply for Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant

The deadline for applying for a 2008 grant for the USDA Distance Learning and Telemedicine Program (DLT) is April 14, 2008. The DLT Grant Program was authorized by the 1990 Farm Bill to provide grants to rural schools and health care providers. The DLT Grant Program is specifically designed to meet the educational and health care needs of rural America through the use of advanced telecommunications technologies. Paper copies of grant application must be postmarked and mailed, shipped or sent overnight no later than April 14, 2008 to be eligible for FY 2008 grant funding. Late or incomplete applications will not be eligible for FY 2008 grant funding. Electronic copies must be received by April 14, 2008 to be eligible for FY 2008 grant funding. More information and the FY 2008 DLT application materials may be obtained from and from the DLT website or by contacting the DLT Program at (202) 720-0413.

Please see the TIE's Telemedicine Funding News Page for the latest news about grants and other funding opportunities.

Telehealth Community Urged to Take Grassroots Action on OAT Funding

Congress is currently in the process of drafting appropriations legislation to provide federal spending for fiscal year (FY) 2009, which will begin on October 1st of this year. Last year, the telehealth community galvanized a strong grassroots advocacy campaign in support of increasing funding for the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth (OAT). Hundreds of individuals and institutions contacted Congress urging that OAT funding be increased. These grassroots efforts resulted in the Senate voting to approve an amendment boosting OAT funding from $6.8 million to $13.8 million. While this increase was unfortunately not retained in compromise negotiations with the House of Representatives, the Senate vote was proof that Congress will act to support telehealth when they hear from constituents in their states and districts. Members of the telehealth community are urged to reach out to Congress and urge that telehealth receive the support it deserves. A $13.8 million budget for OAT will significantly advance telehealth in the United States. If you are willing to have your name added to the list of those supporting an increase in telehealth funding, please send an email to info@telehealthleadership.org including your name, title, organization, and address. This information will be used to add your name to the letter. Please also contact your two senators and urge them to add their names to a joint letter being circulated by Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and Sen. John Thune of South Dakota urging that telehealth funding in the FY 2009 Labor-HHS bill be raised to $13.8 million. With the telehealth communities grassroots efforts, funding for this critical telehealth agency can be increased. (Source: Bob Waters, Partner and Chair, Telehealth, E-Health Law & Government Relations Groups Drinker, Biddle & Reath, March 21, 2008)

2008 Telemedicine Meeting Schedule

We've recently updated our calendar of telemedicine and telehealth meetings for 2008. If you're hosting an event, or if you know of a meeting that we've missed, please bring it to our attention.

Medicare Reimburses for Neurobehavioral Telehealth Exams

The Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services (CMS) recently announced in that the neurobehavioral status exam (Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) code 96116) has been added to the list of Medicare telehealth services. Previously, CMS determined that, if the eligibility criteria, and conditions of payment are satisfied, the use of a telecommunications system may substitute for a face-to-face, "hands on" encounter for consultation, office visits, individual psychotherapy, pharmacologic management, psychiatric diagnostic interview examination, end stage renal disease related services, and individual medical nutrition therapy.

When billing this code as a Medicare telehealth service, you must append modifier GT ("telehealth service via interactive audio-video telecommunication system"), and all other criteria for telehealth reimbursement under Medicare must be met as set forth in the Medicare Benefit Policy Manual (Publication 100-02, Chapter 15, Section 270) and the Medicare Claims Processing Manual (Publication 100-04, Chapter 12, Section 190).

HCPCS code 96116, neurobehavioral status exam, involves clinical assessment of thinking, reasoning and judgment per hour of a psychologist's or physician's time.

Rebooting the TIE Blog

Welcome to the new TIE blog! After much consideration, we are re-launching this blog to highlight some of the features and resources that are contained on the Telemedicine Information Exchange but which can be tricky to find. We'll also be answering some of the questions that we get asked on a regular basis. We also hope to highlight some of the current events going on in the world of telemedicine and in the offices of the ATSP. So please check back often and let us know if there is any particular topic you'd like us to address.