Government & Policy

OASIS CEO Thamer Shaker says all stakeholders in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are working toward a roadmap to ensure alignment with government policy to drive digital innovation in healthcare.

A new study examined past vaccine uptake rates for flu and H1N1, and found that inoculation efforts fell short. The feds must help bridge that gap, "particularly for high-risk populations and communities of color," said former ONC chief David Blumenthal.

Although the American Telemedicine Association commended the agency's moves to expand some services, it urged CMS to reconsider its approach to remote patient monitoring.

The National Governors Association released a white paper this week examining state policies around telehealth and outlining key considerations for governors to assess the potential implications of said policies going forward.   As the report notes, although policies vary from state to state, there have been more telehealth policy changes this year than in the past two decades, with a dramatic uptick in virtual care services to match. As of last week, telehealth legislation extending beyond the pandemic has been passed in 23 states.   "While we cannot assume that the higher uptake of telehealth will continue at the same rate post-pandemic, as patients may have felt they had little choice but to receive services virtually, payers are amassing extensive data upon which to measure outcomes in the short and long-term," the report read.   WHY IT MATTERS The report offered several key considerations for governors with regard to telehealth policies, including with regard to:   Licensure Coverage Pairing payment models and incentives Narrowing the digital divide Interoperability of platforms Privacy protections Engaging stakeholders   The matter of licensure is a particularly notable one, given that state legislators and licensing boards are primarily responsible for it.    Although 53 states and territories temporarily enabled providers to practice across state lines during the pandemic, the future of these policies remains murky. Some federal legislators have taken steps to push for interstate compacts that would ease the way toward clinicians practicing in multiple states. Professional organizations, meanwhile, have raised alarm about long-term relaxation of regulations.  Coverage of services is also a major potential future sticking point: Some payers have already begun to ease back on payment parity for telehealth services, potentially endangering the longevity of virtual care. The report notes that some states have limited coverage to certain modalities, such as excluding audio-only services – a practice that may make telehealth inaccessible for certain groups. The report noted, too, that pairing payment models and incentives to move toward more value-based models may support telehealth use without unduly increasing healthcare costs.   "As more providers participate in value-based arrangements with prospective payments, including capitated population-based payments, payment parity becomes less relevant because a lower percentage of payments are based on volume," according to the report.   THE LARGER TREND   The emergence of a potential COVID-19 vaccine, along with the forthcoming transition of presidential powers, has raised new questions about the future of telehealth policy.  Although President-elect Joe Biden has supported digital health advancements in the past, he hasn't taken major steps yet to throw his support behind the expansion of virtual care.    On the agency side, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released final rules last week that could smooth the way toward telehealth adoption in the longer term.   "These new rulings move us closer to a value-based care model that will allow our healthcare system to reimagine how care is delivered and integrate telehealth with in-person care," said American Telemedicine Association CEO Ann Mond Johnson in a statement.   ON THE RECORD   "Telehealth has the potential to increase access to care, particularly for individuals in rural and underserved areas, as well as during a time when the nation is encouraged to physically distance," said the authors of the NGA report. "It is unlikely that policymakers will uniformly codify temporary measures after COVID-19 ends, but incremental change paired with advances in payment models, technology and evidence may lead the way to improved long-term changes."     Kat Jercich is senior editor of Healthcare IT News. Twitter: @kjercich Email: kjercich@himss.org Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.

COVID-19 has caused more than a million deaths, but disruption has caused many more. Saudi Arabian and UK experts have told the HIMSS Middle East Digital Health Conference that accelerating digital implementation can reduce the care backlog.   

Its Healthcare Interoperability Readiness Program aims to help healthcare organizations understand and prep for the new rules, assess their own interoperability maturity and build new API-based exchange capabilities. 

A new Science report highlights inconsistencies between HHS Protect's information and that from other sources, such as state public health agencies.

Health leaders contemplate the key features of a strong, data-driven response to a health crisis at the HIMSS & Health 2.0 Middle East Digital Event.

 Financial support has been awarded to 13 projects which have digital tools and AI at the heart of their approaches.