Future Healthcare Today cultivates the latest news and trends in the health IT industry, with a particular focus on health it. In this week’s Roundup, we look at five forces driving telemedicine expansion in 2016, a new bipartisan bill that would extend health it services and the top ten questions physicians ask about health it.
All of this and more in this latest health it roundup:
CONNECT Bill Would Extend Telehealth Services via Medicare
A new bipartisan bill, known as the CONNECT Health Act, has been introduced in the Senate and would expand health it services through Medicare. The bill, co-sponsored by Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Thad Cochran (MS), Ben Cardin (D-MD), John Thune (R- SD) and Mark Warner (D-VA), would make it easier for patients to connect with healthcare providers and help reduce costs for patients and providers. A companion bill has also been introduced in the House. The legislation, if passed, will modernize healthcare delivery and remove the barriers for health it.
Read more: http://www.healthitoutcomes.com/doc/connect-bill-would-extend-health it-services-via-medicare-0001
The Top 10 Questions Physicians Ask about Telehealth
As we all know, health it technologies are on the rise. Telehealth in many forms are being adopted by major health systems, health plans and employers to deliver better care while reducing overall costs to the organization and the people or patients they serve. While this movement is primarily consumer driven, there are still many questions that physicians may have about the health it process.
Read more: http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/top-10-questions-physicians-ask-about-health it
What do Employers Want from Telehealth?
By 2018, 80 percent of employers will be offering health it benefits to employees, according to a recent survey. That is quite a spike from the one-third of employers that currently offer their employees health it and the 22 percent that offered health it back in 2014. Yet the upward trend looks hopeful and the benefit for employers is investing in employee’s health and happiness.
Read more: http://www.benefitspro.com/2016/02/11/what-do-employers-want-from-health it
Five Forces Driving Telemedicine Expansion in 2016
The rise of telemedicine represents one of the biggest shifts in healthcare delivery over the last decade—but the telemedicine changes we have seen so far are nothing compared to what we’re likely to see in 2016. Telemedicine is on the verge of rapid, widespread growth and adoption as the forces that have fueled its rise so far—mainly the growth of value-based care and patient convenient access— continue to gain momentum. Here are five categories of forces propelling telemedicine’s continued expansion in 2016.
