Congress Eyes Reimbursement Boost for Rural RPM Programs
While adoption rates are growing for remote patient monitoring (RPM), rural and remote providers are holding back, due in large part to low Medicare reimbursement. A new bill before Congress aims to change that.
Virtual Nursing Programs Need to Balance Growth With Value
Jefferson Health launched its virtual nursing program in 2023 and is expanding its strategy to broaden the virtual observation footprint and include inpatient provider consults. They’re also exploring opportunities to integrate other care team connections, such as diabetes educators.
New RPM Project Targets Cardiac Care for Expectant Mothers
The San Francisco-based university and affiliated health system is partnering with digital health company Vivalink in the BRITE-MOM study, which will use wearable ECG monitors to track participants in real time. The study aims to monitor women with congenital heart disease and pre-eclampsia through pregnancy and six months after delivery to identify signs of arrhythmia.
MUSC Builds on Success to Expand Virtual Nursing Across the Hospital
MUSC is seeing growth at a time when many health systems and hospitals are ramping up their virtual nursing programs to meet a rising demand for effective care transformation.
New Study: RPM Reimbursement Needs a Reset
The report, from the Peterson Center on Healthcare, finds that Medicare expenditures on RPM have grown from $6.8 million in 2019 to $194.5 million in 2023, but that’s still just a small part of overall Medicare spending.
Virtual Nursing Shifts its Focus to the Patient Experience
Sharp HealthCare debuted its VIP platform roughly two months ago in the neuroscience unit in preparation for the opening of the new Sharp Grossmont Hospital for Neuroscience. This expanded co-caring model known as Vitual InPatient nursing services leans heavily on patient engagement strategies, with the goal of having the virtual nurse as the patient’s guide through the healthcare journey.
How to Use Technology to Turn Around Staff Turnover
Virtual nurses at Ardent are rounding on patients, and completing intakes, admissions, and discharges, and they can come into the room at any time. The work that the virtual nurses are doing is cerebral, according to Campbell.
Will This Summer Be Telehealth’s Last Stand?
But the six-month extension isn’t making things any easier for healthcare execs looking to plot long-term strategies. And while supporters are taking heart in the fact that Congress has consistently kept these programs in view, they also know that the cycle of kicking the can down the road has to end.
Another Reprieve? Proposed Budget Bill Includes Telehealth, HaH Extensions
According to the American Telemedicine Association and several others, the proposed Continuing Resolution unveiled on March 8 keeps in place pandemic-era waivers on key telehealth coverage and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Acute Hospital Care at Home program through September 30.
Virtual Nursing Will Be Nonnegotiable: Here’s How CNOs Can Prepare
While health systems might have different approaches or be at different stages of implementation, there are several common virtual nursing strategies that CNOs should take into consideration.