Amwell is reportedly exploring a $200 million buyout of online therapy company Talkspace, Seeking Alpha reported Nov. 28. 

Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Avera Health has received $2.5 million from the Health Resources and Services Administration to address the workforce shortage through telehealth, virtual nursing and rural healthcare education.

As telehealth use expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic, many states passed laws requiring payers to reimburse providers at the same rate as in-person visits. But not all of them.

Becker’s has covered five health systems implementing new telehealth programs since Oct. 27:

Penn Medicine's telehealth program was able to help alleviate barriers to opioid use disorder treatment and increased buprenorphine prescriptions by 89 percent, according to a study published Nov. 16 in NEJM Catalyst.

South Dakota is spending $1.7 million to install telehealth services in ambulances through a partnership with Sioux Falls-based telehealth provider Avel eCare, The Mitchell Republic reported Nov. 21.

Attorneys general in 45 states signed a letter urging the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to permanently extend COVID-19 pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities that allowed clinicians to prescribe buprenorphine to patients over the phone, without an in-person or video evaluation. 

Des Moines, Iowa-based UnityPoint Health has rolled out two new telehealth programs for patients seeking treatments for common ailments.

Telehealth support company OpenLoop is partnering with BlueJeans by Verizon to provide its clients with access to BlueJeans' HIPAA-compliant telehealth platform. 

Telehealth company Teladoc has reached the 50 million visit milestone, and a quarter of Americans now have access to Teladoc through their employer or health plan.

Digital health company Color Health is partnering with the Oregon Health Authority to provide free telehealth appointments for Oregonians to check if they are eligible for oral antiviral treatments for COVID-19, KDRV reported Nov. 15.

Even before the pandemic, nearly one out of five American adults and one in five children and teens suffered from a mental health condition, from anxiety to depression to suicidal ideation. What compounds this crisis is the lack of behavioral health providers available to meet people’s mental health needs.

While automated symptom checkers and other chatbot technologies have become common, most are not directly connected to the overall patient journey. By incorporating chat-based interactions that can escalate patients to the appropriate level of care when needed, healthcare can be more personalized, empathetic, cost-effective and scalable.

LG and Amwell have created a virtual care tool that allows clinicians to use existing LG healthcare TVs to remotely monitor, engage and discharge patients.

Fredrick Dattel, MD, a Kansas City, Mo.-area pediatrician, pleaded guilty to a charge of making a false statement related to a healthcare matter because of his participation in a telehealth kickback scheme that billed Medicare $312,392.

TriHealth will use Andor Health's remote patient monitoring system to elevate its telehealth ecosystem.

ChristianaCare has partnered with virtual care company Hims & Hers to offer patients in several East Coast states access to in-person primary and specialty care services.

The University of Rochester Medical Center has rolled out on-demand telemedicine visits to treat patients for common medical conditions and minor illnesses and to provide general medical advice.

Amazon quickly deleted a video posted on their YouTube channel that described Amazon Clinic, a potential new Amazon telehealth service focused on treating common conditions, like acne and allergies, The Verge reported Nov. 9.

Amwell reported a total revenue of $69.2 million in the third quarter of 2022, up 11 percent from $62.2 million in the third quarter of 2021.