Tag: Telehealth

The AmWell – Avizia Merger and the Evolution of Telehealth

May 8, 2018

By ALAN PITT

Last week Avizia, where I’ve been the Chief Medical Officer since 2014, was acquired by American Well (AmWell). From my perspective, the merger made perfect sense. Avizia has been focused on chronically and acutely ill patients—those more directly attached to a hospital system. AmWell, on the other hand, has been the dominant solution for community-based care; it’s an online consultation service for folks who might otherwise have gone to an urgent care for problems like fever, headache, or a sore throat. Combining these entities provides a solution that spans the spectrum of care, which aligns with the needs of many healthcare systems. Issues related to patient access and satisfaction (think: less acute, community-based care) are top-of-mind for many administrators. However, with 80% of the dollars going to 20 % of the population, managing the continuum for the chronically ill (which is more in line with the mission of Avizia) is imperative to provide better care at a lower cost.

The merger also marks a predictable milestone in the common transition pattern for big ideas (internet, aeronautics, GPS, etc.)—from the military, to academia, to scalable business.

Telemedicine started as a military-run effort. NASA, concerned that astronaut healthcare issues would cause mission failures, was the first organization to devote significant funding to telemedicine research. Early ATA meetings were opened with military-sponsored presentations featuring the Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center, a branch of the Army.

Next came academia. Millions of dollars in grant money were offered, but academics were no longer focused on the health of astronauts. Instead, the goal was providing care at a distance—to the citizens of Rural America. Many early leaders of the ATA came from the universities that built and deployed this technology.

Entrepreneurs are the third wave.Continue reading…

Losing Net Neutrality Could Be Bad For Your Health: Here’s Why

Dec 18, 2017• 5

BY JOHN McDOUGALL, MD

The US Federal Communication Commission’s reversal of Obama-era net neutrality regulations sets the stage for broadband internet service providers (ISPs) to slow or block certain content from reaching their customer’s screens. This is likely to have a significant and potentially negative impact on a healthcare system poised to go fully virtual in the coming years.

Healthcare consumers already depend heavily on internet search results for advice when making healthcare purchases. Coupling preferred content with existing search engine optimization strategies will undoubtably steer consumer behavior. What will be the result? The American healthcare market is unique, both in its expense (higher than any other nation), and its shocking lack of value. Some of this is due to misinformed consumers swayed by direct-to-consumer marketing. Arguably, repealing net neutrality may amplify the problem.

Even more troubling is the prospect of an ISP partnering with a health delivery system. Telehealth – the use of electronic communication technology for healthcare delivery – will become standard of care in the coming years. National telehealth have already managed to get a foothold in today’s highly competitive healthcare market, supplying a disruptive and potentially cost-containing force in the healthcare market. With the elimination of net neutrality, larger, more well-established healthcare delivery systems, seeking to defend or expand their marketshare, can now partner with ISPs to preserve internet “fast lanes” for realtime video doctor’s visits. Smaller, possibly disruptive companies, unable to make these same financial commitment to ISPs, may be marginalized or lost.

Matthew Holt Interviews Avizia CMO, Alan Pitt

Aug 1, 2016

By PRIYA KUMAR

One in a series of interviews that should have been posted months ago, but Matthew Holt is just getting to now.

Alan Pitt is an old friend of the family at Health 2.0. He’s a Professor of Neuroradiology at Barrow Neurological Institute, and now the Chief Medical Officer of Avizia. He has been working with patient-provider collaboration tools for several years now, and previously co-founded Excelsius Robotics (now acquired by Globus Medical).

Avizia spun off from Cisco in 2013. Now it provides a collaboration technology services to hospitals. Recently, Avizia secured $11m in Series A funding to expand their telehealth platform. Back in February at HIMSS, Matthew Holt interviewed Alan to see what the patient-provider platform looks like.

Priya Kumar is an Intern at Health 2.0, and a student at George Washington University

Telehealth is Working in Texas. Here’s Why

Mar 21, 2016• 1

By KOFI JONES

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Over the past two years, policy makers across the nation have been actively adopting policies in support of the rapid adoption of telehealth. From states affirming that health insurance plans should appropriately cover care provided through innovative technologies, to Congress contemplating multiple proposals for telehealth expansion within Medicare – telehealth is fast becoming a permanent part of our healthcare ecosystem.

This movement has been most clearly demonstrated by state medical boards. It has been their job to answer the questions: can physicians use technology to extend the reach of their care? Can telehealth be used to create a treatment relationship, and if so, are their limitations to this relationship?

Overwhelmingly, the resounding answer to these questions has been a consistent one – yes, you can use robust telehealth technologies to provide care and the main limitation is simple – uphold the same standard of care. The Federation of State Medical Boards has upheld this concept.

But if you’ve been following this movement, you know there’s a rather large blip on the national map: Texasa state with more than 27 million residents and a clear need for increased access to care – was recently ranked “worst in telehealth” by the National Center for Policy Analysis. The good news: despite restrictive rules and a lawsuit that’s hindering progress, telehealth is working in Texas and changes, they are a coming.

CMS Approval Another National Nod to the Power of Telehealth

Mar 8, 2016• 1

By KOFI JONES

Screen Shot 2016-03-11 at 3.43.26 PM Approximately 12 million Americans utilize some type of home health care every year. From home health aides visiting the infirmed in their homes, to physical therapy services to aide in recovery, to medical equipment being used to treat the chronically ill, home health has been a critical component of care management for decades.

One of the Medicare payment requirements for these services is for the prescribing practitioner to have a “face to face” encounter with the patient within a reasonable timeframe. This has widely been viewed as a burden on patients, many of whom face mobility issues and other barriers to meeting this obligation. It has also been a barrier for our overburdened physician supply.

Just recently, CMS published a new rule extending this requirement to states – stating that home healthcare matching Medicaid funds will be linked to this same requirement. But, there’s another component of the rule which mirrors Medicare and will have a tremendously positive impact on the home health care community – the face-to-face requirement can be met through telehealth.

Tele Taking Off

Jan 31, 2015• 12

By CECI CONNOLLY

In Washington, sometimes the most significant developments quietly creep up on you. No epic debate or triumphant bill-signing ceremony, but rather a collection of seemingly small events begin to tip the scales.

That’s what is happening today with telehealth. Almost under the radar, federal and state officials have been giving a much-needed push in support of virtual care. Though the technology has long existed, until recently the money had not followed. And sadly in our current fee-for-service healthcare system, little gets done without a payment code, even if it makes eminent medical and economic sense.

Consider some of the recent action. In November, the Department of Agriculture released more than $8.5 million in health-related grants to 31 recipients in rural communities. Many are using the money to purchase telehealth equipment such as high-quality cameras and broadband Internet.

The previous month the federal government issued rules expanding Medicare payment for a range of telehealth services. Caregivers can earn about $42 per month for chronic care management under the new regulations. Seven new procedure codes were also added, covering such services as annual wellness visits and psychotherapy.

And the end-of-year spending bill approved by Congress designates more than $26 million for telemedicine programs largely in rural communities and through the Veteran’s Administration.Continue reading…

HIT Newser: The Flex-IT Bill, Take 2 + Dr. Google In EHR Bid

Jan 20, 2015• 3

By MICHELLE RONAN NOTEBOOM

Flex-IT Bill, Take 2

Lawmakers re-introduce the Flexibility in Health IT Reporting Act of 2015, which would shorten the 2015 MU reporting period from one year to 90 days. The bi-partisan-supported bill earned quick support from HIMSS, CHIME, the AMA, MGMA, and other professional organizations. The bill was originally introduced in September but it failed to pass.

Given the growing disenchantment with the MU program, look for this bill to pass – and hopefully give a boost to attestation numbers.

Dr. Google Joins DoD EHR Bid

Google teams up with PwC, General Dynamics, and Medsphere in their bid for the Department of Defense’s $11 billion EHR bid.

Google brings name recognition and a reputation for innovation and data security. While the Epic/IBM team has been looking like the front-runner, Google puts the PwC/Medsphere/GD team back in the hunt. For those keeping score at home, other vendors in the mix include Cerner/Leidos/Accenture Federal and HP/CSC/Allscripts. A June decision is expected.

RingMD: The Newest Entrant in the US TeleMedicine Market

Jan 5, 2015• 2

By Prerna Anand

At 22 years old, Justin Fulcher looks like an average, newly graduated, young entrepreneur. But don’t be mistaken by his humble appearance. He is the Founder and CEO of RingMD, one of the fastest growing patient-provider communication platform, granting quality and affordable health care to people worldwide.

Founded in 2012 in Singapore, RingMD is a mobile based platform that connects patients with doctors via video or phone. Users input their symptoms, chose the format for the call, provide a mode of transaction, and get access to a list of providers based on location, price, ratings, insurance coverage, availability etc. Provider profiles have detailed biography, and feature dynamic pricing, making it an active health care marketplace. Patients can upload files in real time to share with the consulting doctor, and their EMR history is shown in a split screen on the provider side. Doctor notes are shareable, in both text and video formats.

RingMD has been an active telehealth provider in Singapore, Hong Kong, and other Asian countries, and is now ready to enter the US market. Mr. Fulcher visited Health 2.0 headquarters recently and shared his story with us.

Following is an excerpt from the interview:Continue reading…

Connecting, Reflecting and Projecting with American Well CEO Roy Schoenberg

Oct 20, 2014• 1

By MICHELLE RONAN

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In an exclusive interview with Matthew Holt, American Well President and CEO Roy Schoenberg, MD shrugs off the threat of emerging competitors, predicts that United Healthcare will own a telehealth company within the next 12 months, and reveals that his company has “turned the corner” in terms of generating revenue from telehealth services. Schoenberg also shares details of the company’s recently announced integration with Apple HealthKit and the growing use of scheduled telehealth visits to treat chronically ill patients.

How Telehealth May Be Promoting Fraud and Abuse

Jul 7, 2014• 15

By TOM LIU

I recently called my primary care physician (PCP) for the first time in years to get my immunization records, and encountered a strange message saying he was not currently seeing patients. My mom had apparently encountered the same message weeks ago. “Maybe he retired,” she suggested.

I did a quick google search of my PCP’s name to find an alternate contact number, and instead found a shocking article from the local newspaper. Apparently my PCP has been indicted for falsifying tax returns and participating in an online pharmacy organization that provided prescription drugs without an in-person physician examination.

Remote Prescribing: Lucrative, Pervasive, and Very Illegal

I did a quick search online and confirmed that the practice of offering prescription drugs through a “cyber doctor” prescription, relying only on a questionnaire is indeed very illegal.

It is also very pervasive. The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) reviewed 10,700 websites selling prescription drugs and found that 97% of them were “Not Recommended”. Of these, 88% do not require a valid prescription and 60% issue prescriptions per online consultation or questionnaire only.

What struck me was how this appeared to be a case where the market came together to produce a “triple win” for profit-seeking internet pharmacies, shady physicians (such as my own), and a subset of patients willing to pay a premium to access drugs (most commonly weight loss drugs, erectile dysfunction drugs, and commonly-abused antidepressants and painkillers).

According to one analysis, one such website offering prescriptions from its own doctors listed prices for fluoxetine (brand name Prozac) and alprazolam (brand name Xanax) that were roughly 400% to 1800% higher than prices from a more traditional Internet pharmacy not offering prescriptions. The fact that such “remote prescription” websites remain in business despite the huge price differential suggests that they are attracting patients willing to pay that premium to avoid seeing their regular doctor. And as for where that money is going—well, my doctor was alleged to have received roughly $2.5 million over six years.