Telemedicine, Telehealth, and the TIE

How Maine and New Hampshire Passed Laws Mandating Private Insurance Reimbursement for Telemedicine

noreply@blogger.com (ATSP Staff) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:50:00 +0000

Both Maine and New Hampshire in the Summer of 2009 passed laws which require insurance companies to pay for services delivered by telemedicine. For the benefit of other states who may ponder such a step, a new article on the TIE by Michael Edwards of the Northeast Telehealth Resource Center shares details about the similarities and differences in the laws and discuss some of what we know about how these laws got through the state legislatures.

New Home Telehealth Article Now Available on the TIE

noreply@blogger.com (ATSP Staff) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:44:00 +0000

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.

Innovative Uses of Telehealth: Sports Telemedicine

noreply@blogger.com (ATSP Staff) — Thu, 07 May 2009 16:22:00 +0000

What are some possible applications of telemedicine with athletes and sport participants? An Examination of Sports Telemedicine, recently published in the TIE's news section looks at how sports therapy can be used with telecommunication technologies.

New Legislation Would Increase Funding for Telemedicine

noreply@blogger.com (ATSP Staff) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:53:00 +0000

Congressmen Mike Thompson, D-California recently introduced telemedicine legislation would provide $30 million in grants to help health facilities pay for telehealth equipment and expand telehealth support services. Currently about 80% of Americans do not have access to telemedicine because of restrictions that limit funding for these types of facilities to rural areas. The Medicare Telehealth Enhancement Act (House Resolution 2068) would expand Medicare reimbursement to urban and suburban areas and include more facilities, the press release states. It will also allow doctors to monitor patients remotely.

Read More....

Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction Publishes RFP for Teletherapy Project

noreply@blogger.com (ATSP Staff) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 23:55:00 +0000

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) in Washington State is providing a bidding opportunity on a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a "Special Education and Related Services Teletherapy Pilot Project".

OSPI is initiating this RFP to solicit proposals from firms, school districts, institutes of higher education, medical facilities, and other agencies interested in participating on a project to develop, implement, and evaluate a teletherapy pilot program to provide designated special education and/or related services to students with disabilities ages three (3) through twenty-one (21) from rural, suburban, and urban locations within Washington State. The objective is to provide speech language, occupational, and physical therapy services via point-to-point teletherapy technologies in pilot public school districts that, due to unfilled personnel vacancies and/or personnel shortages, do not currently have the required special education-related service providers to implement services identified on special education students' individual education plans.

For more information, please read the complete RFP file available here.

New Hampshire Senate Passes Telemedicine Reimbursement Bill

noreply@blogger.com (ATSP Staff) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 23:51:00 +0000

Health insurers would no longer be able to require that a doctor meet a patient face-to-face in order to be reimbursed under a bill passed recently by the New Hampshire Senate. Senate Bill 138, which defines telemedicine and requires its coverage, passed the Senate on a 17-5 roll call vote. The measure now goes to the House for approval.

Read More...

Search Engines as Early Warning Epidemic Monitors

noreply@blogger.com (ATSP Staff) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 18:29:00 +0000

Google has come up with an innovative use of the Internet and health information. The NY Times recently noted:

One of Google’s geniuses figured out that whenever people get sick, they use Google to search for more information. By collating these searches, Google has created an early-warning system for flu outbreaks in your area, with color-coded graphs. Google says that Flu Trends has recognized outbreaks two weeks sooner than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has.

As Google aptly stated, this is an exciting development, because early detection of a disease outbreak can reduce the number of people affected. Google also published a paper on the research behind their Flu Trends in an article in Nature entitled Detecting influenza epidemics using search engine query data.

Specific Telemedicine Spending in Final Stimulus Bill

noreply@blogger.com (ATSP Staff) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 18:43:00 +0000

The recently passed $787 billion economic stimulation bill includes $19 billion for health information technology (HIT). Specific for telemedicine, it will provide $4.7 billion for NTIA’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, $2.5 billion for USDA’s Distance Learning, Telemedicine, and Broadband Program, $1.5 billion for HRSA to use to build or repair health centers and/or to purchase equipment, and $85 million for health IT and telehealth technologies within the Indian Health Service. In addition ot this, much of the other HIT money will most likely have telehealth applications. (Source: Federal Telemedicine News)

Two Telehealth Grant Application Windows Open

noreply@blogger.com (ATSP Staff) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 21:36:00 +0000

Fiscal Year 2009 application window is open for the Rural Development's Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) Grant Program, subject to the availability of funding. The grant may be used to fund telecommunications-enabled information, audio and video equipment and related advanced technologies extend educational and medical applications into rural locations. Grants are made for projects where the benefit is primarily delivered to end users that are not at the same location as the source of the education or health care service. The application deadline is March 24, 2009. More information is here.

Also, HRSA recently released updated information on the Telehealth Network Grant Program (TNGP). The primary objective of the TNGP is to show how telehealth programs and networks improve access to quality healthcare services in underserved rural and urban communities. The funding for the program is $3,430,000 with 14 awards expected. The closing date for applications is March 6, 2009. More information is here.

Telemedicine Program Celebrates Ten Year Mark

noreply@blogger.com (ATSP Staff) — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 21:25:00 +0000

The Atlantic Health Sciences Corporation's telehealth program in Canada celebrated 10 years this month. The program has served thousands of patients in and around New Brunswick, and it, and was one of the first recipients of the ATSP Telehealth Awards in 2001.

Medicare to Pay for Telemedicine for Nursing Home Patients

noreply@blogger.com (ATSP Staff) — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 21:16:00 +0000

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.

Two New Telehealth Reports Available

noreply@blogger.com (ATSP Staff) — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 21:32:00 +0000

The California Healthcare Foundation recently released two new reports that focus on telehealth. The first, entitled Right Here Right Now: Ten Telehealth Pioneers Make It Work, that describes how ten telehealth innovators are using electronic means to make high-quality health care available remotely. They use an array of communications instruments, from ordinary telephones and televisions to broadband connections and 3G-driven iPhones. It can be downloaded here.

The second report, entitled Delivering Care Anytime, Anywhere: Telehealth Alters the Medical Ecosystem, describe examines emerging uses of telehealth and describes the market drivers and challenges that will impact its future growth. It can be downloaded here.

AHRQ Report Details Improvements and Challenges for Telehealth Grant Projects

noreply@blogger.com (ATSP Staff) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 20:43:00 +0000

The Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ) recently released a report on telehealth grant projects that reveals the improvements and challenges that telehealth grantees experience.

Although trends among AHRQ-funded projects point toward evidence of improvements in patient outcomes and experiences with the healthcare system, the projects experienced some technical challenges with telehealth equipment, including unreliable home monitoring devices and video resolution that was not up to par.

Some of the complaints were enough to cause patients in the study to stop using the equipment.

Study participants said round-the-clock technical support is needed to ensure patient safety. Because these particular projects were smaller organizations, they relied primarily on vendors for technical support, but found those vendors could not provide the same level of support as internal IT departments at larger organizations.

AHRQ researchers also found that guidelines for reimbursement are necessary for sustainability. The project measured component healthcare costs to demonstrate to regional payers the cost savings of telehealth over traditional in-person care. Specific areas being investigated by the project include the impact of early diagnosis on the initiation of treatment, the ability to manage chronic illness via telehealth versus emergency care, and the effects of continuity of care offered by telehealth applications.

Other findings of the study show that telehealth can support the provision of team-based care and that integration with an electronic health records system is vital to continuity of care across clinical settings.

More information can be found at http://healthit.ahrq.gov.

New Federal Legislation Impacts Telemedicine

noreply@blogger.com (ATSP Staff) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 20:23:00 +0000

On July 9th, the Senate passed the comprehensive Medicare legislation. This legislation with a number of important issues of importance to the Medicare community will also expand the list of telehealth originating sites to include hospital-based renal dialysis centers, skilled nursing facilities, and community mental health centers. The vote was the second attempt at passing this legislation after a vote for cloture failed in June. The legislation has been vetoed by President Bush. However, both the House and the Senate passed the measure with sufficient margins to override a veto and it is likely that it will be overridden. In other legislation, the Senate and House spending bills will boost telehealth funding. Both the Senate and House appropriations committees released FY 2009 spending bills that will increase funding for the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth (OAT)to $7,100,000 from a FY 2008 level of $6,700,000, while the Senate bill would increase OAT funding to a full $8,000,000. More information can be found here.

New Home Telehealth Primer Now Available on TIE

noreply@blogger.com (ATSP Staff) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 22:00:00 +0000

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.

Contributors Sought for Handbook on Knowledge Management in Telemedicine

noreply@blogger.com (ATSP Staff) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 21:51:00 +0000

Writers working in telemedicine and knowledge management as researchers and practitioners are invited to submit book chapters for a handbook be published by IGI Global. The Handbook of Research on Knowledge Management in Telemedicine: Advanced Ethics, Policy and Regulatory Applications will cover a wide range of topics from early adopters of Telemedicine to the latest innovation and futuristic tele-robotic technologies.

The Overall Objectives of the Book:

The book aims to provide relevant theoretical frameworks and latest empirical research findings in the area. It is written for professionals who want to improve their understanding of the global significance of Telemedicine and apply it in their profession. Since Telemedicine is expected to provide a strategic thrust at different levels of the global information and knowledge society and bridge the knowledge gaps in developing nations, the book addresses the all important ethics, policy and regulatory applications in a detailed and comprehensive fashion.

The Target Audience is professionals and researchers working in the field of information and knowledge management in various disciplines, e.g. library, information and communication sciences, administrative sciences and management, education, adult education, sociology, computer science, information technology. Moreover, the book will provide insights and support decision-makers at local, regional, national and international levels to implement Telemedicine initiatives in their country to advance quality of healthcare, medical education and research and elevate the overall health and well-being of society and communities.

Recommended topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

* History And Evolution Of Telemedicine
* Internet, Semantic Web And Telemedicine
* Telecommunications And Telemedicine
* Information Technology And Telemedicine
* Devices, Equipments, Instruments And Accessories And Telemedicine

Medical Applications of Telemedicine:

* Global Ethics And Telemedicine
* Local, National And International Policies In Telemedicine
* Total Quality Management In Telemedicine
* University- Industry Alliance In Telemedicine
* Tele-Robotics- Theory And Applications
* Biomedical Ontology: Theory And Applications
* Data mining Applications For Telemedicine
* Decision Support Systems For Telemedicine

Submission Procedure:

Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit chapters by August 5, 2008 and will be reviewed on a double-blind review basis. The book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global, www.igi-pub.com, publisher of the IGI Publishing (formerly Idea Group Publishing), Information Science Publishing, IRM Press, CyberTech Publishing and Information Science Reference (formerly Idea Group Reference) imprints.

Inquiries and submissions can be forwarded electronically (Word document) or by mail to:

Dr. Jayanth G Paraki
Telemedicine Research Laboratory, India
jparaki @ gmail.com

Or Dr. Lawrence Wasserman USA
Health Knowledge Management Consultant
Fortech1 @ usa.net

(Source: IGI Global Press Release)

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

noreply@blogger.com (ATSP Staff) — Sun, 25 May 2008 01:59:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (ATSP Staff) — Fri, 23 May 2008 01:52:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (ATSP Staff) — Sat, 10 May 2008 01:54:00 +0000

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.

Implementation of Home Telemonitoring for Chronic Disease: New Article on the TIE

noreply@blogger.com (ATSP Staff) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 22:53:00 +0000

A new article on a case study for implementing a home telehealth program has recently been published on the TIE's article section. The article summarizes a study to query the sequence of medical professionals, hospital liaisons, quality controls, and home health nurses about the implementation of telemonitoring. It looks at what barriers stood in the way of a telemonitor protocol from becoming the standard of practice, and what changes where deemed necessary to implement this technology.

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.

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

noreply@blogger.com (ATSP Staff) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:57:00 +0000

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.

Still Time Left to Apply for Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant

noreply@blogger.com (ATSP Staff) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 17:48:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (ATSP Staff) — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 17:44:00 +0000

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)

New Telehealth Industry Magazine Launches

noreply@blogger.com (ATSP Staff) — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 17:36:00 +0000

TeleHealth World is a new print magazine serving the rapidly expanding fields of telehealth, telemedicine, and connected healthcare. It is a comprehensive news and analysis resource for healthcare providers and technology providers who are leading today’s revolution in remotely monitored and administered healthcare, medical treatment and fitness/wellness enhancement. TeleHealth World helps professionals involved in telehealth, telemedicine and fitness/wellness keep abreast of the latest developments, innovations and market news, including new advancements and installations of telehealthcare and telemedicine systems. Learn how organizations are expanding their capabilities for remote diagnostics, patient monitoring, medical treatment, wellness programs and healthcare delivery.

Telemedicine and Telehealth Federal and Legislative Update

noreply@blogger.com (ATSP Staff) — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 18:39:00 +0000

A federal and legislative update for telehealth was published is now available on the TIE's article page. It gives a brief overview of current bills, congressional committees, subcommittees, federal agencies, and state legislation that involve telehealth. It was compiled by Carolyn Bloch, publisher of the Federal Telemedicine News.