‘Bravo Congress’: Telehealth groups cheer omnibus extension of COVID-19 flexibilities

Still, the American Telemedicine Association and other virtual care lobbies said there was more to do to enshrine telehealth access into American law.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Dec. 21, 2022

Omnibus bill restarts Medicaid checks, lowers Medicare physician pay cuts

President Joe Biden signed the the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending package into law on Dec. 29.

By Sydney Halleman • Updated Jan. 3, 2023

Virtual care and MA stars: value for seniors and for health plans

Kelly Bliss, Teladoc’s head of U.S. group health, makes the case for virtual care’s efficacy in improving MA star ratings.

By Kelly Bliss • Dec. 19, 2022

Telehealth visits across most specialties don’t require in-person follow-up, study finds

The follow-up visits were likely due to patients needing additional care — not duplicative treatment, Epic researchers said.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Dec. 15, 2022

COVID-19 fell from top telehealth diagnoses in September

Telehealth use has remained steady this year and did not change nationally from August to September, accounting for 5.4% of all medical claims, according to Fair Health.

By Hailey Mensik • Dec. 8, 2022

3 compliance monitoring trends and their impact on healthcare in 2022

Three trends in compliance monitoring impacting healthcare in 2022, and how to stay compliant in 2023.  

Dec. 5, 2022

Amwell in talks to acquire Talkspace: report

The reported $200 million transaction reflects Talkspace's declining value since the therapy company went public last summer at a $1.4 billion valuation.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Nov. 28, 2022

Health tech companies weigh options to stem cash burn as IPO market sags

Healthcare technology companies are delaying initial share sales as public market stocks and valuations plunge across the sector. Where will they turn in the meantime?

By Sydney Halleman • Nov. 21, 2022

‘Not in la la land’: As digital health funding ebbs, VCs urge startups to be conservative

The explosion of funding during the pandemic was a good thing, but the ongoing market correction is a good thing too as only the best business models will survive, prominent investors argued at HLTH.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Nov. 18, 2022

Cleveland Clinic billing for certain messaging on MyChart

Patient messaging on the portal has doubled since 2019, prompting the system to start billing for those that require more time and expertise.

By Hailey Mensik • Nov. 17, 2022

Included Health launches new virtual care, navigation product

By January, the new All-Included Health model will be live for six clients representing 700,000 members.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Nov. 15, 2022

Maven raises $90M, fueling push into Medicaid, CMO says

Roadblocks for the startup include shifting requirements state-by-state and historically low margins in Medicaid.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Nov. 15, 2022

Amazon launches virtual doctor marketplace in newest healthcare play

The company is doubling down on virtual care with its latest health business: a marketplace allowing customers to choose from a network of telehealth providers for a variety of common medical needs.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Nov. 15, 2022

Cigna’s MDLive will add chronic care program to virtual primary care plans

Initially, the program will be available for patients with hypertension, but will expand throughout the year to other common chronic conditions.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Nov. 14, 2022

More than the main stage: 5 key panels at HLTH 2022

Major healthcare players will discuss private equity, value-based care, digital health funding and more at the fifth annual HLTH conference next week.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Nov. 10, 2022

As travel time to abortion clinics skyrockets post-Dobbs, patients turn to telemedicine for abortion pills

Orders for abortion pills to telemedicine nonprofit Aid Access have increased in states that have restricted the procedure, according to a research letter, with states with total or near-total bans on abortion seeing the biggest surges.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Nov. 2, 2022

Cigna partners with in-home primary care provider Heal

The provider, which focuses on care for seniors, is collaborating with Cigna to offer house calls and remote monitoring to Medicare Advantage customers in four states.

By Susan Kelly • Nov. 1, 2022

Teladoc shares on upswing as it sets up for ‘achievable’ growth

The vendor lowered its fourth-quarter and full-year outlooks on Wednesday. But industry watchers cheered Teladoc for setting up obtainable Q4 growth coming out of pandemic highs.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Oct. 27, 2022

After pandemic highs, digital health funding slouches to early 2019 levels

Global digital health funding of $4.6 billion fell 36% from the second quarter to the third quarter this year, according to a new report from CB Insights.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Oct. 25, 2022

Telehealth startup Cerebral to lay off about 20% of staff

The past year has been rocky for the startup telehealth provider, as it faced dissatisfied patients and a Justice Department investigation into allegations it overprescribed controlled substances.

By Susan Kelly • Oct. 25, 2022

Telehealth use rose overall in July, report finds

Telehealth use increased in the West, Midwest and South in July while it fell in the Northeast, according to Fair Health’s monthly telehealth data out Monday.

By Hailey Mensik • Oct. 3, 2022

Amazon, Walmart among hundreds of employers, health groups urging Senate to extend telehealth flexibilities

The groups sent a letter to lawmakers on Tuesday asking them to extend pandemic-era access to virtually delivered care, including waiving provider and patient location limitations.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Sept. 14, 2022

Teladoc names first-ever chief health equity officer

Teladoc nabbed incoming executive Saranya Loehrer from CommonSpirit, where she served as the nonprofit’s health equity officer.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Sept. 12, 2022

OIG report suggests telehealth fraud rare in Medicare

A small proportion of providers that billed for telehealth — 1,714 out of 742,000 — posed a high risk of fraud or abuse to Medicare in COVID-19’s first year, regulators found.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Sept. 8, 2022

Physician groups urge CMS to prevent payment cuts, protect telehealth

Multiple groups representing doctors oppose Medicare payment reductions at a time when physician practices face escalating costs.

By Susan Kelly • Sept. 7, 2022