Telehealth

Its FutureScape 2021 report foresees a half-decade of health systems still grappling with – but learning from – the COVID-19 disruption of the past year.

Protecting its patients from COVID-19, the 64-site health center moved from very limited telemedicine capabilities to wide-ranging virtual care supported by an FCC grant.

Digital health advocates expressed mixed feelings about the colossal bill, which also authorized funding for telehealth work and rural hospital operations.

The health system found that patients who received care at their facilities had lower observed mortality rates than the national average, and remote patient monitoring may have been one difference-maker.

The COVID-19 crisis prompted an enormous uptick in virtual care use from patients and providers – but it has also raised a number of questions about telehealth's security, accessibility and longevity.

Skip Newberry, president and CEO of the Technology Association of Oregon, points to early implementations of smart homes to address the social determinants of health and the barriers they faced.

If the bill is signed by Gov. Mike DeWine, Ohio would become the 20th state requiring a prescribing clinician to be in the presence of a patient when providing a medication abortion.

Lea Sims, marketing practice lead for healthcare insurance and life sciences at Verizon, discusses how COVID-19 has created unforeseen use cases for virtual care that Verizon's connected solutions – from tele-capabilities to 5G – make possible.

Philips said the acquisition "fits perfectly" with its strategy to be a leading provider of in-home care management technology.