Tele-Pulmonology is breathing new life into inpatient care as one of the fastest-growing inpatient telemedicine specialties. With chronic lung conditions and respiratory emergencies on the rise, hospitals are under increasing pressure to deliver specialized care around the clock. Yet, like…
In the past year, we’ve seen a tremendous number of positive changes to synchronous telemedicine in 3 areas: Flexible Delivery Models Specialty Expansion Treatment Locations To respond to the surge of patients, hospitals had to deploy a tremendous amount of…
When calculating each hospital’s readmission performance, hospital patient transfer is not the first thing that comes to mind. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) excludes patients with planned readmissions, left against medical advice or are immediately transferred to…
Programs designed to lower hospital readmissions often focus on patient characteristics associated with reimbursement penalties assessed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS). This approach makes a lot of sense because the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP) only reduces…
Hospitals across the U.S. are expanding the ways they tackle hospital readmission rates in the age of COVID-19. With the help of telemedicine, hospitals are implementing procedures that better prepare at-risk patients for discharge. More than 35 million hospital discharges…
Hospitals are working to drive down 30-day readmission rates for the benefit of patients, and to avoid reimbursement cuts by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS). In our third post on the impact of the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program…
With healthcare moving from fee-for-service to value-based care and with the increased focus on population health and patient satisfaction, telemedicine can help reduce physician burnout and care gaps that lead to higher readmission rates. In our last article, Can Better…
The Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP), which is managed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), reduces payments to hospitals with excessive readmissions. High readmission rates can contribute to significant damage to a hospital’s financial health. What actions…
At first glance, one might think that telemedicine wouldn’t be the best medium for diagnosing and treating patients with infectious diseases (IDs). There is, after all, nothing to “listen to” in conditions of sepsis, infected wounds from diabetes or other…
In previous posts, we’ve discussed the strategic challenges of gaining consensus among hospital leadership to start a telemedicine program. Part I and Part II covered hurdles such as the crisis-planning mindset and fear of change. In Part III, we address…