July 2014 Dear Phonse,
Summer has certainly arrived, and the NETRC team hopes that you are finding opportunities to enjoy some of the things that you love best about this time of year. For me, it's the crack of a baseball bat, the lake, and that feeling that things are just a little less hectic under the lazy summer sun. That said, there is much to do, and we are looking forward to working with all of you to develop and expand opportunities to enhance the health of our population through telehealth.
Although I have been with the NETRC for just a short time, I have Danielle Louder - quickly recognized the phenomenal assets that we have both internally Program Manager; and externally: the expertise and can-do attitude of our NETRC MCDPH-NETRC team, access to a wealth of resources and expertise through regional and national colleagues within HRSA and the thirteen other telehealth resource centers, and the privilege of working with partners such as yourself, who are passionate about utilizing technology to increase access to quality health care.
As you know, our charge is to provide effective resources and technical assistance to those who are planning, implementing and/or evaluating telehealth programs throughout the Northeast (and beyond). Whether you're just beginning your journey with telehealth, are looking to expand your current program, and/or impact more global aspects such as policy, we are here and eager to assist! Here are just a few examples of current/recent efforts:
Assisted multiple partners with USDA DLT grant applications due earlier this month Working with partners in Massachusetts on telehealth nursing curriculum development Facilitating discussions among Maine Telehealth Forum members around proposed changes to MaineCare-Medicaid telehealth reimbursement policy Participating in a regional learning collaborative focused on leveraging existing partners, technology and providers to develop a sustainable telehealth network within New York State Sharing resources with regional Offices of Rural Health and Primary Care at the annual NOSORH meeting in Connecticut
It has been a fantastic first few weeks, and I am very much looking forward to meeting and working with many more of you in the future. Perhaps you can join us at the NETRC Regional Conference in Burlington this Fall!
On behalf of the NETRC Team, Best Regards - We hope to talk with you soon!
Please be Upcoming NETRC Webinars & Conferences sure to visit our website July 29th at 12pm (EST) for telehealth resources, NETRC Webinar: news, Behavioral Health and Medical Remote Care Solutions for upcoming Nursing Home Residents events, and much more: Webinar Presenters: www.netrc.org Thomas Sheeran, PhD, ME and Mark Treat
Regional Thomas Sheeran, PhD, ME: Assistant Professor Events
(Research) at the Alpert Medical School of Brown NETRC University and Clinical Psychologist at Rhode Island Regional and Miriam Hospitals. Dr. Sheeran's research focuses on using telehealth technology to improve mental Conference health services for seniors in community-based
October 1 settings. His research has been funded by the Burlington, VT National Institute of Mental Health, the Cornell Clinical and Translational Sciences Center, the United Hospital Fund and the Rhode Island Foundation. Sheeran holds adjunct faculty appointments at the Weill Cornell Institute of Geriatric Psychiatry and the University of Rhode Island Geriatric Education Center.
Mark Treat: Mr. Treat has extensive experience Save the Date! with large scale government contracting, systems integration and project management. Treat Dartmouth comes to Nalari Health from SAIC, an $11B, Hitchcock 45,000-person science, technology and Center for professional service organization where he led Telehealth: the inception, sales and development of a new 2014 Telehealth Summit business practice, including the successful negotiation of over $100M in new contracts. Prior November 4-5 to working at SAIC, Mr. Treat led the strategy and planning practice for
Commerce One, a leading internet services and online marketplace Grant company. Mr. Treat's experience includes working with online health Opportunities information exchanges, co-founding a bioinformatics company, co-
founding a cell-based screening company, working with syndromic NIH Funding surveillance programs and supporting the Johns Hopkins Center for mHealth Tools Computer Based Surgical Systems. He is known for his expertise in for Underserved business process management (BPM) and as vice president of the Populations with Chronic Association of Business Process Management Professionals. As vice Conditions to president, he co-led the development of The Guide To The BPM Promote Common Body of Knowledge (CBOK) ™, which defines the professional Effective standards for end-to-end business process management Patient-Provider Communication, internationally. Mr. Treat is a graduate of Babson College. Adherence to Treatment and We will be using Zoom (a video conferencing Self-Management technology) for this event.
PA-14-180 (R01 Research You can join from a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone or Android device: Project Grant) Please click this URL to start or join. https://zoom.us/j/395258878 PA-14-181 (R21 Exploratory/ Or, go to https://zoom.us/join and enter meeting ID: 395 258 878 Developmental Research Grant)
The purpose of Join from dial-in phone line: this initiative is to stimulate research Dial: +1 (415) 762-9988 or +1 (646) 568-7788 utilizing Mobile Meeting ID: 395 258 878 Health (mHealth) Participant ID: Shown after joining the meeting tools aimed at the International numbers available: https://zoom.us/zoomconference improvement of effective patient- provider If you need additional information about the webinar or would like to be communication, a featured presenter in a future webinar please contact adherence to [email protected]. treatment and self- management of chronic diseases in underserved populations.
HRSA Funding Rural Health Network Development Program
Supports rural integrated health care networks that have combined the functions of the entities Additional Webinars participating in the network in This Month in Telemedicine---American Telemedicine Association order to achieve Jonathan Linkous, CEO, and Gary Capistrant, Senior Director of Public efficiencies; Policy July 22, 2014, 2:00 PM EST expand access to, coordinate, and improve the quality Reducing Chronic Heart Failure Readmissions Using Telehealth--- of essential health National Telehealth Webinar Series - Sponsored by the South Central care services; and Telehealth Resource Center Donna Ussery, RN, University of Arkansas strengthen the rural health care Medical School Medical Center July 17, 2014, 2:00 PM EDT system as a whole. Learn more FSMB Interstate Licensure Compact and Telemedicine Standards--- Center for Telehealth & eHealth Law Brown Bag Webinar - Dr.
Humayun J. Chaudhry, CEO, Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB). July 21, 2014, 12:00 Noon EDT (free)
Upcoming Conferences
mHealth+Telehealth World Summit Hyatt Regency, Boston, MA July 22-24, 2014
ATA Fall Forum--Telehealth for Chronic Care JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort, Palm Desert, CA Sept. 6-9, 2014
NorthEast Telehealth Resource Center Regional Conference- Leveraging Telehealth to Achieve the Triple Aim Sheraton Burlington Conference Center, Burlington, VT Oct. 1, 2014
New England Rural Health Roundtable - Annual Conference Westford Regency Inn and Conference Center, Westford, MA October 1-3, 2014
Partner's Center for Connected Health Symposium- Connected Health in Practice Seaport Hotel & World Trade Center October 23-24, 2014
RECENT TELEHEALTH NEWS Content compiled by: Michael Edwards - Consultant to the NETRC Telehealth Policy News
CMS proposes expanded telehealth coverage for 2015; Fierce Health IT, July 3, 2014 htm Annual wellness visits and psychotherapy are among four services the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is proposing to add to the list of services that can be provided to Medicare beneficiaries via telehealth, according to a proposed update to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for the 2015 calendar year issued
AMA telemedicine policy emphasizes in-state licensure, in-person visits; Fierce Health IT, June 12, 2014 htm Patient safety and care quality is a primary focus of a telemedicine policy adopted by the American Medical Association this week. It errs on the side of caution in its recommendations, calling for in-person consults in some cases, for example.
Continued FDA device regulation? FDA will stop actively regulating MDDS; CTeL Telehealth Buzz, June 19, 2014 htm The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is continuing to provide clarification regarding its plans for health IT device regulation. Specifically, the agency will "exercise enforcement discretion" on three specific types of Class I devices: medical device data systems (MDDS), medical image storage devices, and medical image communication devices.
FDA and telemedicine regulation-CTEL June Webinar answers questions; CTeL Telehealth Buzz, June 20, 2014 htm The Center for Telehealth & eHealth Law shared a summary of the discussion from a recent Webinar on FDA telehealth regulations: e.g. when is your smartphone technically a medical device?
News on the Practice of Telemedicine
ATA 2014 recordings and new telemental health course now available on the Learning Center American Telemedicine Association News Brief, July 3, 2014--Learning Center: htm Online course: htm "Delivering Online, Video-Based Mental Health Services," a new interactive and self-paced course with continuing education credits, is now available. In addition, ATA 2014 educational sessions and pre- meeting courses recorded during the conference are now available for purchase and viewing on the ATA Learning Center.
VA reduces admissions by 35% due to telemedicine services EHR Intelligence, June 23, 2014 htm A new study published by Adam Darkins, Chief Consultant for Telehealth Services at the Veterans Administration, highlights the growth in use of telehealth by the VA and a number of favorable outcomes. In 2013, utilization grew to 1.8 million episodes of care with over 608,000 patients, and, among home health patients, telehealth services have contributed to a 35% reduction in hospital admissions and a 59% reduction in bed days of care.
Maryland invests in cloud-based telehealth to improve correctional health care, cut costs Government Technology, May 21, 2014 htm The state of Maryland has invested in telemedicine to reduce costs of medical care at its correctional facilities. In a recent presentation, the executive director of clinical services for their system is projecting a clear return on investment, mostly in the form of reduced costs in staff time to transport prisoners to medical specialists and/or costs of paying for specialist services at the prisons.
Telemedicine Technology News Verizon Virtual Visits enters telehealth market Information Week Healthcare, July 2, 2014 htm Verizon recently unveiled Verizon Virtual Visits, a mobile-based technology that combines several existing Verizon technologies with a provider network to give consumers easy and secure telehealth access to remote care. The service, available via smartphone, tablet, or computer, is targeted to multiple groups, including health systems and insurers.
Using robots in rural hospitals Federal Telemedicine News, June 29, 2014 htm According to an article by Mike Shields for the Kansas Health Institute, some small rural Kansas hospitals are using highly sophisticated medical robots to help ease the shortage of specialists in their areas and in one instance boosting the bottom line at a critical access hospital.
Docs: Wearable devices a possible game changer in medical care Fierce Health IT, June 24, 2014 htm Researchers are conducting more and more studies on the potential of wearables to keep patients healthy and to help them recover from illness faster, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal.
FCC: 'Telemedicine, it's coming' mHealth News, June 19, 2014 htm The Federal Communications Commission, which funded 50 large-scale broadband development projects, is now busy taking applications from consortia for subsidies of local provider broadband access under its Healthcare Connect program. Over 76 consortia have applied since January, all seeking better access to medical specialists through telemedicine, exchange of EHRs, coordination of patient care, and/or remote training opportunities.
Health Information Technology News Big data tools help CMS transform healthcare Fierce Health IT, July 9, 2014 htm A recent article in Health Affairs explains the progress CMS is making in converting mountains of claims data into actionable information and making reports securely accessible to researchers and Accountable Care Organizations.
Google Glass gains momentum in healthcare Information Week Healthcare, June 18, 2014 htm The vendor of the Electronic Health Record system drchrono is now beta-testing an app for Google Glass that allows ready access of providers to patient medical records via its cloud-based software. Using the computerized glasses, physicians can use voice commands to take a picture or video clips of the patient encounter or procedure that can be added to a patient's EHR.
Recent Telehealth Resources
Abbate S, Avvenuti M, Light J. Usability study of a wireless monitoring system among Alzheimer's disease elderly population. Int. J. Telemed. Appl. 2014: 617495, 2014 htm.
Adler-Milstein J, Ja AK. Health information exchange among U.S. hospitals: who's in, who's out, and why? Healthcare 2(1): 26-32, 2014 htm
Arnold S, Esernio-Jenssen D. Telemedicine: Reducing trauma in evaluating abuse. Chapt. 6 in: Telemedicine, Madhavan R, Khalid S (eds.), Intech, 2013 htm
Bernocchi P, Scalvini S, Bertacchini F, Rivadossi F, Muiesan ML. Home based telemedicine intervention for patients with uncontrolled hypertension: - a real life - non-randomized study. BMC Med. Inform. Decis. Making 14: 52, 2014 htm
Bradford NK, Young J, Armfield NR, Herbert A, Smith AC. Home telehealth and paediatric palliative care: clinician perceptions of what is stopping us? BMC Palliat. Care13: 29, 2014 htm
Darkins A. Telehealth services in the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Veterans Health Administration, 2014 pdf
Hilty DM, Yellowlees PM, Tarui N, et al. Mental health services for California Native Americans - Usual service options and a description of telepsychiatric consultation to select sites. Chapt. 5 in: Telemedicine, Madhavan R, Khalid S (eds.), Intech, 2013 htm
Nakamura N, Koga T, Iseki H. A meta-analysis of remote patient monitoring for chronic heart failure patients J. Telemed. Telecare 20: 11-17, 2014 htm
Moore SL, Fischer HH, Steele AW, et al. A mobile health infrastructure to support underserved patients with chronic disease. Healthcare 2(1): 63-68, 2014 htm
Mistry H, Garnvwa H, Oppong R. Critical appraisal of published systematic reviews assessing the cost-effectiveness of telemedicine studies. Telemed. e-Health 20(7): 609-618, 2014 htm
Zawada ET Jr, Buus D, Kosiak D, Herr P, Heisler M. Update on the most rural american telemedicine program - the present and future. Chapt. 7 in: Telemedicine, Madhavan R, Khalid S (eds.), Intech, 2013 htm
About Us The Northeast Telehealth Resource Center is funded through the Telehealth Resource Center Grant Program offered by the US Department of Health and Human Services - Health Resources and Services Administration's (HRSA) - Office for the Advancement of Telehealth. The grant program provides three years of financial support for the establishment and development of regional Telehealth Resource Centers (TRCs) across the country. CFDA 93.211 Announcement number HRSA-11-141