It's wicked out there today! If you are stuck in the blizzard with us, we hope you are staying warm and safe.
This year has gotten off to a busy start for telehealth in the northeast. We were very excited to hear that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed landmark telehealth legislation ( SB 7852) on December 29, 2014. NETRC and the Center for Connected Health Policy have been carefully reviewing this law and the amendments requested by the Governor upon signing. We will soon publish a full summary.
NETRC is also thrilled to announce that the 2015 Regional Telehealth Conference will be on September 23 and 24. We've begun developing an agenda and we would love your feedback. Please click here to complete a short survey to tell us what you would like to see during the conference. Based on feedback from last year, we're adding a second day!
Stay tuned for more information and an invitation to sponsor, exhibit, and/or present at the conference. Please contact Andrew Solomon at (207) 622-7566 ext. 266 or [email protected] with any questions.
Sincerely,
The NETRC Team
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Updated Resource Library Now Available!
With this tool, you can discover nearly 1,000 open source (no subscription needed) telehealth resources, including peer-reviewed journal articles, white papers, and more developed by experts in the field. Use the new navigation features to sort by specialty, topic, and more. We continue to add new resources and update links for existing resources. Do you need help finding something? Contact us! We would be happy to create a custom webliography of resources related to your project.
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Federal Funding Opportunity
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Deadline to apply: February 17, 2015
The Community Connect program serves rural communities where broadband service is least likely to be available, but where it can make a tremendous difference in the quality of life for citizens. The projects funded by these grants will help rural residents tap into the enormous potential of the Internet... Read More
Interested applicants are encouraged to attend a webinar on February 3 at 1:00 pm EST.
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American Telemedicine Association
Presenters: Jonathan Linkous, Chief Executive Officer, Gary Capistrant, Chief Policy Officer, Latoya Thomas, Director, State Policy Resource Center
TODAY, Tuesday, January 27, 2015, 2:00 - 3:00 PM EST
Malpractice and Telemedicine: Claims and Defenses
The Robert J. Waters Center for Telehealth and e-Health Law
Presenters: Michael C. Stinson, JM, Director of Government Relations, Physician Insurers Association of America and P. Divya Parikh, Director of Research & Risk Management, Physician Insurers Association of America
Tuesday, February 3, 2015, 12:00 - 1:00 PM EST
National Telehealth Webinar Series
Presented by the National Telehealth Technology Assessment Resource Center
Presenter: Garret Spargo, Director, National Telehealth Technology Assessment Resource Center
Thursday, February 19, 2015, 2:00 - 3:00 PM EST
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Mid-Atlantic Telehealth Resource Center
March 29-31, 2015, White Sulphur Springs, WV
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RECENT TELEHEALTH NEWS
Content compile by Michael Edwards, NETRC Consultant
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Telehealth Policy News
mHealth News, January 23, 2015
On Jan. 16, the Texas Medical Board issued an Emergency Rule that prevents physicians in the state from prescribing controlled substances via telemedicine. The rule amends the Texas Administrative Code, Title 22, Part 9, Section 190.8(1)(L), to state that online questionnaires or discussions via phone, e-mail, electronic text or chat are not adequate to establish a valid relationship between the patient and physician. It further states that a physician must conduct an examination through an in-person examination or face-to-face visit.
National Law Review, January 15, 2015
New York became the 22nd state to sign into law legislation that will require commercial and Medicaid plans to provide coverage of telehealth and telemedicine services.
iHealthBeat, January 14, 2015
Lawmakers of the congressional "telehealth working group" circulated a draft bill called Advancing Telehealth Opportunities in Medicare.
American Medical Association, Hot Topics, 2014
This policy discussion focusses on addressing confusion over the practice of prescribing medication via telemedicine. Some states such as New Hampshire require that a patient-physician relationship be established on the basis of an in-person clinical visit before prescribing is allowed.
mHealth News, December 03, 2014
On Dec. 1, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released a notice of proposed rule-making to improve Accountable Care Organizations, within which are provisions which allow greater flexibility in ACOs coverage of services delivered by telehealth or mHealth compared to Medicare mandates
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News on the Practice of Telemedicine
mHealth News, January 22, 2015
Need help launching a telehealth program, or wondering what your state allows? There's a place for that.
Fourteen, in fact. They're called telehealth resource centers, 12 of which cover specific regions and two serve as national centers.
Texas prisons try telemedicine to curd spending
The Dallas Morning News, January 19, 2015
Telemedicine is one way that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is trying to control spending on prison health care. But while telemedicine has shown some success in curbing spending, it hasn't been enough to stem rising costs due to an aging prison population.
Federal Telemedicine News, January 11, 2015
A recent statewide report summarizes the progess and outcomes of the North Dakota Telepharmacy Project, which began in 2001 as a method to dispense medication in remote sites through telehealth oversight by distant pharmacists. By 2014, 75% of state counties were being served, including a total of 56 telepharmacy sites.
Toronto Globe and Mail, January 05 2015
According to a recent review published by medical faculty at the University of Ottawa, telemedicine can help connect isolated patients with infectious diseases to medical specialists, and patients appreciate it.
American Telemedicine Association, December 18, 2014
ATA recently released guidelines cover the provision of direct-to-patient, primary and urgent care services delivered by licensed healthcare providers using online, real-time videoconferencing and audio technologies. Technologies include mobile devices such smart phones, laptops or tablets.
Fierce Mobile Healthcare, December 14, 2014
The Center for Connected Health in Boston is promoting a market research tool it developed called cHealth Compass. It is designed to help providers, vendors, and healthcare organizations understand what mHealth consumers want and engage them in providing feedback on pilot program efforts.
EHR Intelligence, December 9, 2014
Some general strategies are highlighted for providers planning how best to take advantage of telehealth solutions in their practice. Discussion categories include: 1) understanding the licensing and reimbursement landscape, 2) working with existing infrastructure, and 3) focusing on patients most likely to benefit.
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Telemedicine Technology News
Federal Telemedicine News, January 11, 2015
Recently, a system that turns a smart phone a fundus camera ("D-EYE Portable Retinal Imaging System") was approved by the FDA and the European CE Authority for marketing in the U.S. and Europe. The system offers a quick, accurate, and inexpensive way to examine the human eye to identify a variety of health conditions, including the leading causes of blindness, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and macular degeneration.
Fierce Mobile Healtcare, December 22, 2014
Nearly half of U.S. caregivers residing in a broadband household are tapping a digital health device as part of their care-taking routine, according to a new report from Parks Associates. The increasing use of mHealth digital devices for home-based care reflects two trends: an increasing number of households featuring a caregiver and advancing technology that can help those in the role.
Federal Telemedicine News, December 10, 2014
The market research company Frost & Sullivan recently awarded the company LifeBot for "New Product Innovation Leadership" in the area of portable telemedicine. Their LifeBot 5 system can send live ultrasound 24/7 from any place to remote physicians plus provide video, audio, and other critical physiologic patient information.
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Health Information Technology News
Healthcare IT News, January 7, 2015
Maine's Health Information Exchange, HealthInfoNet, has worked with HBI Solutions in Palo Alto, CA, to develop analytic capabilities which its members can contract to access. Customers can use the analytics and predictive tools to study market share, clinical performance, population health and patient risk, all in real-time.
Fierce Health IT, December 31, 2014
A research study from the University of Chicago analyzes the levels of success of state Health Information Exchanges in Iowa, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Utah, Vermont and Wyoming. The researchers found that in some states, large health systems delivered participants and data to the HIE, while in others, large systems acted as competitors and the absence of their data hurt the HIE's value proposition.
EHR Intelligence, December 29, 2014
A recent audit report and a former board member detail the causes of the demise of Connecticut's statewide Health Information Exchange program HITE-CT, which was shut down on July 1, 2014 by the state legislature. Poor executive leadership and board governance doomed the organization to failure, as evident from the HIE never generating income because it never succeeded in beginning operations.
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Recent Telehealth Resources
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American Telemedicine Association. Practice Guidelines for Live, On Demand Primary and Urgent Care. ATA, Dec. 18, 2014 htm
Brown RA, Marshall GN, Breslau J, et al. Access to behavioral health care for geographically remote service members and dependents in the U.S. Department of Defense, National Center for Telehealth and Technology and RAND Co., 2015 pdf
Cancela J, Pastorino M, Tzallas AT, et al. Wearability assessment of a wearable system for Parkinson's disease remote monitoring based on a body area network of sensors. Sensors 14(9): 17235-17255, 2014 htm
Hale TM, Kvedar JC. Privacy and security concerns in telehealth. Virtual Mentor 16(12):981-985, 2014 htm
Hecht A, Shin AJ, Matousek A. Telehealth, health IT, and mHealth policy: Considerations for stakeholders. National Law Review, Jan. 2015 htm
Holmen H, Torbj�rnsen A, Wahl AK, et al. A mobile health intervention for self-management and lifestyle change for persons with type 2 diabetes, part 2: one-year results from the Norwegian randomized controlled trial Renewing Health. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2(4): e57, 2014 htm
Kwong MW, Gutierrez M, Marcin JP. Interstate licensure for telemedicine: the time has come. Virtual Mentor 16(12):1010-1013, 2014 htm
LeRouge CM, Garfield MJ, Hevner AR. Patient perspectives of telemedicine quality. Patient Prefer. Adherence 9:25-40, 2014 htm
Lundell S, Holmner �, Rehn B, Nyberg A, Wadell K. Telehealthcare in COPD: A systematic review and meta-analysis on physical outcomes and dyspnea. Respir. Med. 109(1):11-26, 2015 htm
Rheuban K, Shanahan C, Willson K. Telemedicine: innovation has outpaced policy. Virtual Mentor 16(12):1002-1009, 2014 htm
Riley WT, Keberlein P, Sorenson G, et al. Program evaluation of remote heart failure monitoring: healthcare utilization analysis in a rural regional medical center. Telemed. e-Health 20 (13): [epub ahead of print], 2015 htm
Rudin RS, Auerbach D, Zaydman M, Mehrotra A. Paying for telemedicine. Amer. J. Managed Care 20(12):983-985, 2014 htm
Shi L, Wu H, Dong J, Jiang K, Lu X, Shi J. Telemedicine for detecting diabetic retinopathy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Brit. J. Ophthalmol. 99(2): [epub before print], 2015 htm
Telligen and the Great Plains Telehealth Resource and Assistance Center. Telehealth Start-Up and Resource Guide. Oct. 2014 htm
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