Dear Colleagues,
We hope you're doing well, and are enjoying the days filled with more sunshine as we round the corner towards spring!
We're back with another edition of Northeast Connections to help you prepare for new year filled with telehealth opportunities and events! As you've come to expect, the NETRC team has what you need to catch up, and lots of telehealth updates to share with you this month! T his edition aims to help you digest the multitudes of things happening across the telehealth landscape; including: an exciting annoucement about NETRC2024, NCTRC member Resources, Upcoming Webinars & Events for 2024, & so much more!
As always, please don't hesitate to reach out with your telehealth questions, success stories, or just to say hello; we hope to hear from you!
On behalf of the entire NETRC Team – Be Well,
Reid Plimpton, MPH - Project Manager
|
|
Upcoming Webinars & Events |
|
|
|
Save the Date for Our Annual Conference |
|
|
|
The NETRC Team is excited to announce that we will be hosting our 10th Annual Conference at the Courtyard Marriott in Nashua, NH from Monday, September 16 through Wednesday, September 18. Mark your calendars and stay tuned for an official registration link and call for abstracts! |
|
|
|
National Resources: News & Events from the NCTRC |
|
|
|
2024 MATRC Summit
In Person April 14-16 | Pocono Manor, PA
Register now to lock in the early bird rate and secure your spot! Discounted Early Bird Registration for #MATRC2024 ends Wednesday, January 31st!
Join our vibrant and collaborative MATRC Community to propel your teleheath aspirations beyond by:
- Exploring practical ideas and analyses
- Learning how to make things happen – even in a fluid policy environment
- Accelerating your telehealth vision
- Developing relationships and becoming part of a community that will last well beyond the Summit
Engage with your telehealth colleagues from DC, DE, KY, MD, NC, NJ, PA, VA & WV to:
- Exploring research based best telehealth practices
- Learning about technical advances (including AI)
- Developing connections to expand your network
|
|
|
|
We're thrilled to be a partner of the upcoming #ATANexus event this May 5-7,2024 for a convergence of ideas and innovation in virtual healthcare. Join us for an opportunity to network & learn from the best.
Use promo code NETRC for $300 off a full registration
|
|
|
|
|
ICYMI: Recent Resources and Reports |
|
|
|
|
|
NCTRC Annual Report is now available!
The National Consortium of Telehealth Resource Centers (NCTRC) 2023 Annual Report is now available! Through significant expertise and partnerships with stakeholders, the NCTRC rose to the challenge of helping the nation advance telehealth in an ever-changing healthcare landscape. As there continues to be increased interest in the field of telehealth, the TRCs remain committed to providing vital technical assistance, training and resources to the nation’s healthcare system and citizens. For more information, read the full report.
|
|
|
|
The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) Presents: New Telehealth Resources for Health Centers
NACHC is excited to collaborate with National Health Center Telehealth Resource Center (TRC) to pilot a project intended to provide technical assistance (TA) to health centers who are determining how and if they will sustain telehealth operations and virtual modalities coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic and Public Health Emergency designation (PHE). Find out more about this joint project below.
TA products available:
3. Direct Telehealth Billing Technical Assistance/Triage –Targeted TA for FQHC telehealth billing questions now has a dedicated consultative service available triaged by the Center for Connected Health Policy,
|
|
|
|
Additionally, a second report, issued by the Cicero Institute titled, The third annual telehealth innovation report, highlights 27 states that have barriers to cross-state-line telehealth. The discrepancies between the two reports are largely based on different definitions and interpretations of existing laws, demonstrating how confusing navigating telehealth across state lines can be for both providers and patients. In addition, the differences present the importance of reviewing each law directly in order to truly understand what the policies both require and allow in the various circumstances that arise in terms of virtual medical care.
For more information on the PLF report, please review the article discussing state telehealth rules, and the Cicero Institute report can be viewed on their website. To review all laws and policies impacting telehealth by state, and federally, please access CCHP’s Policy Finder.
|
|
|
|
HRSA-24-019
Primary Care Training and Enhancement: Physician Assistant Rural Training in Behavioral Health (PCTE-PARB) Program Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration
Posted Date:Dec 15, 2023
Current Closing Date for Applications:Mar 15, 2024
Estimated Total Program Funding:$ 5,000,000
Award Ceiling:$415,000
To learn more and apply go here
|
|
|
|
USDA Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant
Posted Date:Feb 29, 2024
Current Closing Date for Applications: April 29, 2024
Estimated Total Program Funding:$ 5,000,000
Award Ceiling: Awards range from $50,000 to $1 million
To learn more and apply go here
|
|
|
|
Upcoming Webinars and Events |
|
|
|
Virtual Care Symposium 2024
From Novelty to Sustainability – How to Embed Virtual Care into the Post-Pandemic Healthcare Delivery Template
Wednesday, March 13, 2024
1 – 5 pm EDT
Please join us for presentations on important topics related to innovations in virtual care:
AI and Technology Enabled Clinical Workflow Redesign: Virtual Nursing, Telesitting and AI enabled documentation.
Session moderator: Lee Schwamm, MD, Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Health Officer, Yale New Haven Health and Associate Dean, Digital Strategy and Transformation, Yale School of Medicine
Virtual Primary Care: Successes and struggles with integrating virtual care models into primary care.
Session moderator: John D. Scott, MD, Chief Digital Health Officer, University of Washington Medicine
Selling the ROI for Virtual Care: Senior healthcare executives will evaluate three ROI presentations in a shark tank style format.
Session moderator: Judd Hollander, MD, Senior Vice President, Healthcare Delivery Innovation, Thomas Jefferson University
Leveraging Community Spaces to Expand Virtual Care Access: Use of public libraries to meet the information and virtual care needs of communities.
Session moderator: Elizabeth Krupinski, PhD, Professor and Vice Chair, Research, Emory University
|
|
|
|
NCTRC Webinar - Vermont Emergency Telepsychiatry Network: Lessons Learned from 2 years of Progress
Date & Time: Mar 21, 2024 02:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Description: Hosted by: Northeast Telehealth Resource Center (NETRC)
Presented by: Ali Johnson, MBA - Quality Improvement Specialist, Vermont Program for Quality in Health Care Inc. (VPQHC)
Description:
The Vermont Emergency Telepsychiatry Network is a statewide system established in 2023 to help emergency departments provide timely psychiatric care via telehealth for individuals with mental health needs. This session will share lessons learned from the state wide initiative; including one hospital's receipt of telehealth consultations from a private psychiatric hospital's child psychiatrists and another hospital's establishment of an after-hours emergency telepsychiatry service from a national vendor.
|
|
|
|
AHRQ Safety Program for Telemedicine: Improving Antibiotic Use
Two million infections per year are caused by antibiotic resistant organisms, leading to 35,000 deaths per year in the United States. Meanwhile, one-third of outpatient antibiotic prescriptions and half of the prescriptions for acute respiratory infections are unnecessary. Learn how to improve patient safety and reduce harm associated with antibiotics in a free 18-month AHRQ program that starts in June 2024.
We’re recruiting clinics and providers that want to improve antibiotic prescribing.
Benefits of Participating:
- Improve efficiency and patient satisfaction with antibiotic prescribing, using approaches such as scripting for live and patient portal interactions.
- Perform better on antibiotic-related quality measures (e.g., Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set [HEDIS], Merit-based Incentive Payment System [MIPS], and The Joint Commission Antimicrobial Stewardship standards).
- Receive continuing education credits (CEUs), continuing medical education credits (CMEs), and American Board of Internal Medicine Maintenance of Certification (MOC) points through live and/or self-paced materials.
Virtual Program Includes: Monthly 20-minute webinars and office hours to learn best practices in the treatment of common outpatient infectious concerns through live interactions with infectious diseases experts.
|
|
|
|
3RNET Webinar Series: Recruitment for Retention Strategies for Rural and Underserved Communities - Part 3: Retention & Renewing Your Culture
The New England Rural Health Association Invites You to Join this Three-Part
Webinar Series presented by 3RNET
Recruiting and retaining hard-to-find health professionals is one of the biggest challenges for organizations located in rural and underserved communities. It’s vital to have a strategic approach that emphasizes recruiting the right candidates and having engagement processes in place that will ensure new employees become rooted into the organization and the community from the start.
This webinar series will follow 3RNET’s recruiting for retention guiding principles and best practices, curated by years of collective expertise in the field, particularly for rural and underserved communities nationwide. We will evaluate current workforce trends driving today’s job market and discuss how this impacts your hiring abilities. Participants will discover helpful tools, resources, and practical solutions for recruiting and retaining health professionals into rural and underserved communities.
Part 3: Retention & Renewing Your Culture- April 5, 2024 | 10:00 - 11:30 EST – Register Now
|
|
|
|
Featured Telehealth News
A larger news compilation can be found on the NETRC site here.
|
|
|
|
16% of All Abortions Occur Via Telehealth as Restrictions Tighten
mHEALTHINTELLIGENCE 2/29/2024 Link
Following the overturning of federal abortion protections, abortions obtained via telehealth, even in states with bans, have grown, new research shows.
Digital Engagement with RPM Boosts Post-Discharge Care Coordination
mHEALTHINTELLIGENCE 2/28/2024 Link
A digital engagement program leveraging an RPM solution helped increase touch points between patients and clinicians following discharge, research reveals.
Telemental Health Research Highlights Telehealth Policy Barriers
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth research frequently focused on its use to access mental and behavioral health services, since the services were the most commonly considered as appropriate to receive virtually rather than in-person. As attention to and demand for telemental health access increased during the pandemic, additional studies have been released showing both trends and areas for future research as well as creating new policy.
How SDoH data impact telehealth access and how payers can use it to improve outcomes
HEALTHCAREDIIVE 2/26/2024 Link
Payers are continuously looking to improve health outcomes. Removing barriers to care and improving care access through analyzing social determinants of health (SDoH) data is a key strategy.
Stakeholders Urge Congress to Take Early Action on Telehealth Access
mHEALTHINTELLIGENCE 2/26/2024 Link
In a letter to Congress, healthcare providers, trade associations, and virtual care companies emphasized the need for action on telehealth policy early in the year.
Digital Health Strategies Reduce High BP Among Underserved Groups
mHEALTHINTELLIGENCE 2/23/2024 Link
Research shows digital health interventions positively impacted hypertension control among vulnerable patients, including low-income and minority race groups.
AHIP, AMA and employer groups team up to accelerate digital health adoption
FIERCEHealthcare 2/22/2024 Link
Fourteen organizations representing providers, payers, consumer technology companies and employers are teaming up to cut through the noise and raise higher standards for finding digital health solutions that work and are worth the investment.
New Collaborative Launches to Drive Digital Health Evidence, Adoption
mHEALTHINTELLIGENCE 2/22/2024Link
Formed by 14 trade associations, including the ATA, AARP, and AMA, the collaborative aims to advance evidence-based digital health research and technology adoption.
Virtual second opinions are popular, but wariness persists on AI diagnosis tools
HealthcareITNews 2/21/2024 Link
A survey by The Clinic by Cleveland Clinic revealed nearly four in ten respondents had reservations around seeking a second opinion if the provider used AI diagnostic tools.
Telehealth Billing Largely Met Medicare Requirements During Pandemic
mHEALTHINTELLIGENCE 2/21/2024 Link
A federal report reveals that healthcare providers using telehealth to deliver evaluation and management services generally complied with Medicare rules.
Licensure Complexities Related to Using Telehealth Across State Lines
Two new reports have recently been released discussing states with licensure exemptions or registration processes specific to the use of telehealth by out-of-state providers. One report, titled, In 30 states you can’t use telehealth with out-of-state doctors,
RPM strategies for moving from discharge to hospital-at-home care
HealthcareITNews 2/19/2024 Link
Cindy Gaines, RN, chief clinical transformation officer at Lumeon, explains why making the home another part of the care continuum is so crucial – and discusses the technologies that can make it happen.
Telehealth Advocates: HHS Has Done Its Bit on Expanding OUD Treatment; DEA Needs to Step Up
MedCityNews 2/19/2024 Link
HHS recently released a final rule that allows practitioners in Opioid Treatment Programs to start patients on methadone or buprenorphine via telehealth. However, the final rule does not apply to the broader range of providers, leading telehealth advocates to call for additional changes from the DEA.
DEA Urged to Mitigate Geographic ‘Red Flag’ in Telehealth Prescriptions
mHEALTHINTELLIGENCE 2/16/2024 Link
Virtual care stakeholders have sent a letter asking the DEA to clarify pharmacists’ responsibility regarding virtual prescriptions of controlled substances.
Telehealth services during pandemic largely compliant with Medicare, OIG finds
HEALTHCAREDIVE 2/16/2024 Link
The latest audit from the HHS’ Office of Inspector General comes as some Medicare flexibilities for telehealth are set to expire at the end of this year.
|
|
|
|
Recommended Telehealth Research/Resources
Check out the complete Telehealth Library Database on the NETRC site here.
|
|
|
|
Medicaid & CHIP Telehealth Toolkit
Health equity in telehealth
Telehealth.HHS.gov 2024 Link
Unmet Need Score Map Tool
Preparing mental health providers for the future: the case for moving beyond the elective telehealth course to integrating telehealth training throughout the curriculum
Kathy Wibberly 2024 frontiers Link
Patient Satisfaction With Telemedicine Among Vulnerable Populations in an Urban Ambulatory Setting
Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule Summary: CY 2024
Brief History of Telehealth and Telemedicine-
Upper Midwest Telehealth Resource Center; 2023 Link
Rural-Urban Disparities in video telehealth use during rapid mental health care virtualization among American Indian/ Alaska Native
Kusters IS, Amspoker AB, Frosio K, et al; 2023 Link
Telehealth Privacy Tips for Patients
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration ; 2023 Link
Patient Satisfaction with Telehealth at an Academic Medical Center Primary Care Clinic
Verma H, Hasegawa D, Tepper DL, Burger AP, Weissman MA.; 2023 Link
CMS Resource: Maximizing Access to Affordable, High-Quality Health Care Coverage Preparing for Launch: Early Lessons Learned from Health Centers on Selecting New Technology and Tools for Virtual Care
Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services; 2023 Link
Preparing for Launch-Early Lessons Learned from Health Centers on Selecting New Technology and Tools for Virtual Care
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration Bureau of Primary Care 2023 Link
Information for Critical Access Hospitals
Medicare Learning Network Link
The State of AI in Maine Digital Report
The Roux Institute Northern Eastern University, 2023 Link
Customizable Communications Toolkit
National Rural Health Resource Center. 2023 Link
NCTRC Annual Report 2022
7 Essential Recommendations for FQHC Leaders to Ensure Success and Sustainability
oatmeal health, 2023 Link
|
|
|
|
The Northeast Telehealth Resource Center has been made possible by grant numbers G22RH30352 and 1 U1UTH42523‐01‐00 from the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth: HRSA / DHHS. |
|
|
|
|
|
