Here are the latest stories and updates on telemedicine in the country from the past two weeks reported at Becker's Hospital Review, starting with the most recent.
1. At Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, the use of Google Glass to consult with patients about dermatological issues was warmly received, as evidenced by high patient satisfaction scores. What's more, the use of such a device could help reduce emergency room wait times, according to a study in JAMA Dermatology. Read more
2. Salt Lake City-based TruClinic, a telemedicine solution, joined forces with Google for Work, an enterprise workplace solution that will offer TruClinic's telemedicine solution through Google Chromebooks. Read more
3. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) signed a bill establishing reimbursement practices for telemedicine services last Friday. Read more
4. Telemedicine has been the most successful in providing remote or rural patients with access to specialists, according to a REACH Health survey. Read more
5. Telehealth funding has been removed from the 21st Century Cures package. Read more
6. Physician adoption is still the largest challenge to telehealth, according to Theo Harvey, CEO of Atlanta-based telehealth company SynsorMed. Many are concerned about reimbursement, as telehealth is still not eligible for Medicaid or Medicare coverage in many states. Others are concerned about quality — not physically seeing a patient is still a fairly new concept, he said. Read more
7. Colorado is the latest in a growing tide of states passing parity laws requiring the same reimbursement for telehealth visits as for in-person visits. Read more
8. Rockwell Collins, an avionics and IT systems company based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, will soon have a telehealth clinic on its campus. The MercyCare Community Physicians, a medical group operated through the Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based MercyCare Medical Center, will provide the medical services to Rockwell Collins' employees and family members on the company-sponsored health plan. Read more
9. Roy Schoenberg, spoke with Becker's Hospital Review on the evolution and future of telemedicine and telehealth. Here are eight key thoughts. Read more
10. In an April 10 vote, the Texas Medical Board voted 13-1 to prohibit physicians from issuing prescriptions to unknown patients via telemedicine. Read more
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