Telehealth “Mission Critical” in the COVID-19 Fight
WASHINGTON, D.C. – An editorial authored by Andrew Fish, Chief Strategy Officer for The Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), appeared this week in Real Clear Health on the benefits of telehealth in connecting patients and health care providers, particularly during the current coronavirus (COVID-19) health care crisis.
Telehealth technology has become “mission critical” in the fight to contain and defeat COVID-19, Fish writes, as it provides patients with needed care while “keeping contagious people safe in their homes, thus reducing stress on hospitals and protecting health care workers from infection.”
Fish praises the Trump Administration’s recent actions to expand telehealth services to 44 million Medicare beneficiaries across the country by increasing payments and allowing use of more popular video applications.
However, Fish identifies additional steps that should be taken to further increase patient access to this vital service, including:
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Modernizing Medicare’s outdated benefit structure;
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Removing geographic barriers to telehealth coverage;
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Allowing health care professionals to provide telehealth services across state lines; and
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Expanding the list of health care providers covered.
“Telehealth is the future of health care,” Fish states, “but in order to usher that future in efficiently and effectively, the telehealth regulatory system needs improvement.”
The full editorial can be viewed here.
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AdvaMed member companies produce the medical devices, diagnostic products and health information systems that are transforming health care through earlier disease detection, less invasive procedures and more effective treatments. AdvaMed members range from the largest to the smallest medical technology innovators and companies. For more information, visit www.advamed.org.