Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1293445
123 ment will likely go down, at least initially, as we re- calculate the actual costs associated with telehealth. Telehealth requires a different calculus than brick- and-mortar clinics, the cost for telehealth will be up to health systems to establish fair recompense with payers but we do see telehealth as an opportunity to bring down the costs of healthcare. Harold Paz, MD. Executive Vice President and Chancellor of Health Affairs at the Ohio State Uni- versity and CEO of the Ohio State University Wex- ner Medical Center (Columbus): As an academic health center we have embraced telehealth as an im- portant part of the continuum of care we provide. e pandemic forced us to rapidly accelerate our deploy- ment of telehealth, and this has been a great experi- ence for our patients and for those providing care. At the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, just 2 percent of our providers were offering telemed- icine visits at the start of March. By April, 98 percent were doing these types of visits. In that time, the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center has complet- ed more than 130,000 telehealth visits. is was made possible by implementing numerous technical and cultural changes in a very short time. We certainly endorse continuing to reimburse at the current rates and creating parity between payers. But regardless of the rates, we will continue to expand our telehealth offerings. Some patients still are not comfortable returning for in-person visits for rou- tine care and we need to meet them where they live. Expanding telehealth was a goal at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center from the start of my tenure here, which began one year ago. Telehealth is vital not only in the pandemic, but also to modernize our care model and to bridge healthcare disparities in the community. Telehealth needs to be part of the health- care landscape across the country and will be part of the new normal. David Tam, MD. President and CEO of Beebe Healthcare (Lewes, Del.): We are very grateful that CMS made those changes. I just got to this job three months ago, right when the pandemic started, and even then I was looking at where we are at Beebe Healthcare with telemedicine and knew that tele- medicine was going to be one of our cornerstones for the expansion of our platform to take care of patients throughout the county. Even if the CMS rates change back to where they were before, Beebe Healthcare is strategically focusing on continuing to expand our telemedicine functionality for the people of this county. My goal is to expand telehealth. ere are so many things we need to do in our market, which is a very diverse area of wealthy people along the coast as well as more vulnerable populations further inland as we get into agriculture, so having the ability to do more advanced telemedicine is critical to our mission of taking care of everyone in the county. To improve our financial status as a result of address- ing telemedicine, I think of telemedicine as a revenue generator as well as serving the community, especial- ly as we advance in the technology. Number two, I think it will actually improve our ability to get sec- ondary services and therefore enhance our revenue in terms of testing, imaging capability and other an- cillary services because we are really talking about in- creasing our ability to see more patients. We have so many people here that live in the county that may not have transportation or may have language barriers, and that is how telemedicine can really play a signif- icant role to reach out to patients that we have never had a chance to reach out to before and take care of. at will generate secondary revenue in a variety of different ways. is is a way to enhance our revenue generation even if the CMS reimbursement changes back to where they were before. Parinda Khatri, PhD. Chief Clinical Officer for Cherokee Health Systems (Knoxville, Tenn.): En- hancing and building our suite of telehealth services is a critical part of our vision and strategic plan. Our patients have experienced the convenience of virtual health and it is unlikely that they will want to go back to the 'old way' of blocking an hour-plus time in their schedule for in-person visits. We plan to forge ahead with telehealth as part of our access model, and advo- cate strongly for permanent financial and regulatory changes to support this approach to care. Alexa Kimball, MD. President and CEO of Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians at Beth Israel Deacon- ess Medical Center and President of Physician Per- formance LLC (Boston): We have just completed a big experiment clearly showing that the major barri- ers to implementing telehealth were reimbursement and regulation rather than technology. Without those barriers there was rapid and widespread adoption. But uncertainty surrounding insurance reimburse- ment remains one of the biggest determining factors for ongoing success in telehealth. We no doubt will be living in a world of both in person and telecare for some time since the need for social distancing will obligate us to see fewer patients in our clinical settings. Telehealth will help providers to balance these chal- lenges and enable better patient access. But main- taining and expanding telehealth reimbursement is absolutely imperative. Insurers must understand that telehealth visits are oen longer — not short- er — than in person visits, and require a significant amount of technical and administrative support. Yes, telemedicine can be less expensive – but that's be- cause it requires fewer buildings, not less effort. If re- imbursements drop, it's likely that clinicians will offer virtual care under only limited circumstances — and that would undo all the critical progress we've made over the past few months. Barb Lato, MS, BSN, RN, CENP. Vice President of Patient Care Services for Aspirus Medford: Aspirus has outstanding staff and processes in place to help keep our patients and employees safe, and telehealth remains an important part of our strategic plan due to our limited access to providers and resources. We are looking to expand our current telehealth solution telehealth system as a way to keep more vulnerable patients in our skilled nursing facilities safe, by elim- inating unnecessary exposures linked to trips to a doctor's office or emergency room. We are also look- ing at ways to bring inpatient access to services such as psych and other specialties not typically found in critical access facilities. Melissa O'Connor, PhD, RN. Director of the Ger- ontology Interest Group at Villanova University and Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Visiting Nurse Association of Greater Philadelphia: We will continue to include telehealth as one of our valued tools. While reimbursement is warranted and need- ed, our telehealth will continue as it allows us to re- duce hospital readmissions among patients who suf- fer from heart failure, COPD, wounds, and diabetes through the daily vigilance it allows. Our telehealth program has also been critical in al- lowing the VNA to care for COVID-19 positive pa- tients who are being treated or continue their treat- ment at home following a hospitalization. Telehealth has allowed us daily contact while reducing exposure to our clinical staff and provides great comfort to pa- tients who are relying on us, home health providers, to meet their healthcare needs and are oen very much alone. n e American Medical Association (AMA) has been a leader in supporting the adoption of telehealth across the country. While we may be best known for CPT® content—that's just one part of what we do. We have also worked with physician practices and legislators to ensure that telehealth services are not subject to inappropriate regulation, can be fairly compensated, and can be more easily adopted.