There were 769 new cases of COVID-19 in Arizona on Wednesday, bringing the state total to 894,875. There were six new deaths, the total is now 17,936. Almost 46% of Arizona residents are vaccinated against COVID-19. Only 8% of intensive care unit beds are in use by COVID-19 patients and 15% of ICU beds are available.
This...News
The Biden administration is looking into making more payment models offered through the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) mandatory in the future as it moves forward on value-based care coverage.
Over the past 10 years, CMMI has tested 54 models and only five have been shown to produce effective cost savings for the...National News
Last week the Department of Justice announced criminal charges against 14 defendants in seven federal districts across the country for allegedly participating in various healthcare fraud schemes that exploited the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in over $143 million in false billings before being blocked.
As well a the DOJ, the...Arizona News
Governor Doug Ducey signed HB 2454 last week, which increases telemedicine services for Arizonans and providers. The legislation covers not only a wide range of services now covered by telemedicine, but also prescriptions. Julia Strange of Tucson Medical Center told KVOA4 what this means to rural Arizonans specifically:
One of the most...News
Last March, the American healthcare system scrambled to adopt telemedicine out of necessity. And now, as patients and providers have taken a liking to its convenience and efficiency, the industry looks toward establishing the post-pandemic telemedicine landscape.
During the pandemic, Medicare expanded access to telehealth for...National Reports & Surveys
The payment gap between independent and hospital-employed doctors is significant. The average gaps were $63,000 for primary care doctors, $178,000 for medical specialists and $150,000 for surgeons.
Based on Medicare claims data from 2010-2016, research found that the program's payments for doctors' work were $114,000 higher per...Arizona News
The Apricus Health Network, an Arizona-based Direct Contracting Entity (DCE), is busy signing up providers and offering patients continuous care augmented by health monitoring technology and telemedicine.
Direct Contracting is a set of new payment models that are designed to allow organizations to take on more risk, and to save...CMS Rules
On Tuesday the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final rule for policy adjustments under the Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) for calendar year 2021. The rule confirmed changes to telehealth payments made during the COVID-19 pandemic, but will make cuts to specialty providers.
Last March, during the onset...
Telehealth was a natural solution for a pandemic that made person to person contact risky. Now, as a light emerges at the end of the tunnel, experts look toward the future of virtual medicine.
One national telemedicine platform, CallOnDoc, told Forbes that they are seeing people use the platform for chronic conditions. In...Arizona News
In the early months of the pandemic, the federal Medicare program and private health insurance companies wanted to encourage people to use alternatives to in-person care by talking with a doctor over video or by telephone. There has been a 3,200% spike in telemedicine visits in Arizona, according to AHIP.
Now, some Americans will...National News
Last Thursday, a bipartisan group of representatives introduced a bill to the House of Representatives that would solidify some changes made by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services regarding telehealth coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill would allow telehealth visits to be conducted from a patient’s home and...Arizona News
The volume of telehealth claim lines increased more than 8,335% in April 2020 compared to April 2019 as the pandemic continues to drive utilization.
Mental health diagnoses drove visits, followed by joint and soft tissue conditions and hypertension, suggesting more privately insured patients turned to telehealth to manage chronic...National News
The global pandemic has forced industries across all sectors to adapt or risk insolvency. Firms have transitioned operations worldwide into the homes of their employees and healthcare is attempting to do the same by streamlining payments to increase home-based care access.
According to Humana executives, the coronavirus should...Arizona News
On Thursday, April 30, CMS announced it will more than double the reimbursement for telephone consultations to match those for office and outpatient visits.
The new rule increases payments for audio-only telephone consultations from $14-$41 to about $46-$110 as part of a broad package of federal waivers and flexibilities to...National News
Trusted advisors share their perspective on what will never be the same again, predicting what healthcare will look like after the pandemic.
The responses were diverse, but rapid adoption of successful innovations are key because the crisis is altering, maybe even permanently, how and where providers interact with their patients...Arizona News
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the face of healthcare as we know it. As in-person visits become in many cases impossible, the role of telemedicine has become essential.
In Arizona and elsewhere, healthcare providers are turning to technology to deliver care at a distance like never before.
Dr. Ateev Mehrotra, an...Arizona News
The coronavirus pandemic poses a myriad of problems for healthcare entities across the country and many see telemedicine as a solution to some of them.
Providers have been gradually implementing telemedicine services slowly for years. But as the need for separation between people has become suddenly paramount, the pace of its...Arizona News
Health clinics in Safeway stores across Arizona have gone completely automated, combining artificial intelligence, augmented reality and telemedicine to offer healthcare services in under 30 minutes. Patients worried about an injury or potential illness provide their physical information to a computerized program armed with artificial...National News
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized plans to allow Medicare Advantage plans to increase access to telehealth benefits, including the option for beneficiaries to receive care in their home through telemedicine instead of a healthcare facility.
The Friday announcement is a result of the Bipartisan Budget Act...
As the crusade for gender equality continues along with the proliferation of non-traditional careers, Dr. Julie Hall-Barrow, senior vice president of Network Development and Innovation at Children's Health in Dallas, is utilizing innovation in the IT space to remove barriers to care and she said being a woman in IT was not an...
