Telehealth, retail clinic use increasing in pivot toward lower-priced medical delivery sites

Telehealth use grew 12% and retail clinic use grew 10% from 2017 to 2018, according to a new report from nonprofit FAIR Health.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • March 31, 2020

Trump administration expedites Medicare payments to providers amid coronavirus

CMS advances Medicare payments in emergency situations like natural disasters or to address cash flow issues when there's a disruption in claims submission or processing, based on historical payments to a Medicare provider.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • March 30, 2020

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Interoperability

Interoperability is a long term-challenge for the healthcare industry, but the Trump administration has big ambitions to improve data sharing and patient access — even though its plans so far have few details.

By Healthcare Dive staff

Once 'fringe idea,' doctors warming to patients reading encounter notes, study suggests

Three-quarters of the more than 1,600 physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and therapists surveyed for a JAMA Network Open study thought it was a good method.

By Ron Shinkman • March 29, 2020

'What about us?': Frontline primary care practices fear for survival amid coronavirus

Independent practices have resisted selling to hospitals amid years of provider consolidation, reimbursement cuts and more, leaving them with razor-thin margins. Now, they worry COVID-19 could send them off the financial cliff.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • March 26, 2020

FDA still trying to fine-tune Pre-Cert as pilot enters 2020

The Pre-Cert​ pilot, which includes Apple, J&J and Fitbit, is moving forward with the agency "working through the nine companies, trying to figure out how they actually do business," FDA's Bakul Patel said.

By Greg Slabodkin • March 26, 2020

UnitedHealth says self-swabbing study spurred FDA coronavirus policy change

The agency now allows onsite self-collection of samples, after a nearly 500-patient study found self-administered tests about as accurate as those carried out by clinicians.

By Nick Paul Taylor • March 26, 2020

As Congress gains ground on stimulus, healthcare workers ask people to stay home

President Donald Trump, however, said he wanted the nation to be "opened up" by Easter, despite strong advice from public health experts that the U.S. continue social distancing efforts.

By Shannon Muchmore • March 25, 2020

Telehealth vendors scramble to hire doctors as patient volume soars amid COVID-19

"We've gotten a lot of applications, more in the past two days since we put out this temporary position than we could have imagined," 98point6 CEO Robbie Cape told Healthcare Dive. "That being said, we need 10 times more."

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • March 20, 2020

Direct-to-consumer companies wade into coronavirus testing to fill gap

Everlywell said Monday it planned to donate its store of COVID-19 tests to hospitals, following guidance from FDA warning consumers of fraudulent at-home tests.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Updated March 23, 2020

Medtronic pledges '24/7' ventilator production to meet coronavirus demand

The company is aiming to more than double its manufacturing capacity as GE, Getinge, Philips and others outside of healthcare commit to boosting worldwide supply of the potentially lifesaving machines.

By Maria Rachal • March 19, 2020

Telehealth payment parity in Medicare welcome, but some vendors say it should have come sooner

"We've all been preparing for this and we certainly anticipated this was going to happen," Doctor on Demand's chief legal and business affairs officer told Healthcare Dive.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • March 19, 2020

4 key interoperability technologies for secure health data exchange

Despite the impressive strides technology companies and government agencies have made, there are still major operational inefficiencies in sharing and accessing healthcare data.

March 19, 2020

HHS considers rolling back interoperability timeline amid COVID-19

But some health IT experts are calling for more urgency, not less, to fix the outdated EHR infrastructure and allow the free flow of clinical data to combat the mounting public health emergency.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • March 18, 2020

Medicare will now cover telehealth to fight coronavirus

It's a move telemedicine companies like Teladoc and American Well have been requesting since well before the outbreak, but the change is scheduled to be in place only for as long as the national emergency is designated.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • March 17, 2020

Disease management firms set to capitalize on Trump admin interoperability push

A key detail of a rule finalized last week could make it simpler for players like Omada Health, Propeller Health and Livongo to interface with large health system clients.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • March 17, 2020

HHS hit with cyberattack as US deals with coronavirus response

The intent of the attack was to slow systems, but HHS remained "fully operational," a spokesperson told Healthcare Dive.

By Samantha Schwartz • March 17, 2020

COVID-19 puts unprecedented strain on US health system

Some Providence hospitals are converting operating rooms to intensive care units to prepare for a surge in coronavirus patients as federal officials pleaded with the American public to avoid gathering in groups.

March 17, 2020

Q&A: ONC chief Don Rucker's thoughts on the final information blocking rule

HHS has been working on a set of rules meant to expand patients' access to their medical information for half a decade. Here's what the U.S. health IT leader thinks of the accomplishment and the roadblocks to getting there.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • March 13, 2020

Controversial EHR mandate in interoperability rule could threaten hospital Medicare reimbursement

The new requirement that hospitals must send electronic notice of key changes in a patient's status is worrying some facilities, especially those in rural areas and treating a high proportion of low-income patients.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • March 12, 2020

CVS adds 5 digital health programs for PBM clients

Livongo Health, Hinge Health, Hello Heart, Torchlight and Whil are now available for clients to use, in addition to Sleepio, a personalized digital sleep program and the first participating program when the service launched in 2019.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • March 12, 2020

ECRI: Poor sterilization, failure to learn from device problems threaten patient safety

The 2020 list put together by the nonprofit ECRI Institute also highlights diagnostic errors as a top patient safety concern for a third consecutive year.

By Maria Rachal • March 11, 2020

CMS eases more Medicare restrictions to boost coronavirus treatment access

The actions won't necessarily remove cost barriers for patients. Most payers have not extended the coverage promises to employers' self-insured plans that cover the majority of Americans, and high deductibles persist.

By Shannon Muchmore • March 11, 2020

Payers, providers say interoperability rules threaten patient privacy

HHS officials disagree, however. "When you're in the electronic world, there's always risk," ONC head Don Rucker said. "I think we've put in some powerful protections here."

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • March 10, 2020

Cerner calls interoperability timeline doable. Others aren't so sure

CMS officials said the timing is a matter of life and death given the outbreak of a novel coronavirus, but an Allscripts executive said "the development lift is going to be substantive in what is still a fairly short period of time."

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • March 10, 2020

Hospitals dipping into emergency stocks to combat coronavirus

While more community spread of COVID-19 is reported daily, hospitals are bracing for a rush of patients and payers are waiving fees for telemedicine consults and extra prescription drug supplies.

By Shannon Muchmore • March 10, 2020