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Telehealth May Not Reduce Health Care Costs

Telehealth may increase rather than decrease health care costs, a new study has found. The study, performed by the Rand Corporation and based on a limited sampling of data from California, found that only 12 percent of telehealth doctor visits replaced office visits while the remaining 88 percent of telehealth encounters constituted new demand. The study focused on virtual visits for respiratory illnesses and found that the telehealth encounters often led to office visits and medical tests that increased annual spending on respiratory illnesses approximately $45 for each user. Learn more about the study, its methodology and findings, and reaction [...]

iqtsupport2017-03-16T06:00:12-04:00March 16, 2017|Uncategorized|

But is the Innovation Working?

Driven by government payers, private payers, and business demands, health care providers are engaging in delivery system innovation to an unprecedented degree. But is that innovation achieving its objectives? How can providers tell? A new post on the Health Affairs Blog offers guidelines for evaluating the effectiveness of delivery system innovation. Among other steps, it proposes identifying the target population the innovation seeks to serve; describing baseline performance; and documenting the components of the innovation. It also suggests how payers can be enlisted to help with this effort. Go here for the article “Strategies For Assessing Delivery System Innovations.”

iqtsupport2017-03-14T06:00:56-04:00March 14, 2017|Uncategorized|

Key Ingredients for Health Care Innovation

What conditions and considerations are needed for innovation in health care? A new article on the Health Affairs Blog asks this very question. To see the answers, go here to see the article “Innovative Environments In Health Care: Where And How New Approaches To Care Are Succeeding.”

iqtsupport2017-03-13T06:00:24-04:00March 13, 2017|Uncategorized|

A New Approach to Treating the Underserved

Last month Congress passed the Expanding Capacity for Health Outcomes Act. The new law calls for the U.S. Department of Health and Human services to study a New Mexico project that employs distance learning to enhance the ability of the medical community to serve medically underserved areas. Launched by the University of New Mexico in 2003, Project ECHO takes advantage of telehealth techniques to employ medical specialists who consult via videoconference with primary care providers. This approach can be employed to help patients in rural and underserved rural areas and to assist those with limited mobility who have difficulty traveling [...]

iqtsupport2017-02-07T06:00:34-05:00February 7, 2017|Uncategorized|

Long-Awaited 340B Guidance Withdrawn

The long-awaited “guidance” that was expected to bring potentially major changes to the federal section 340B prescription drug discount program has been withdrawn by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration. The final guidance, based on proposed guidance released in mid-2015, was expected to redefine the patients, providers, and prescription drugs eligible to participate in the 340B program. The document was thought to be in the final stages of review by the Office of Management and Budget. Learn more about the proposed guidance, what it was expected to address, who is relieved and who is [...]

iqtsupport2017-02-06T06:00:56-05:00February 6, 2017|Uncategorized|

Defining “Success” in Addressing Social Determinants

With a growing number of programs designed to address the social determinants of individuals’ health care challenges, the question arises as to how to define “success” in those approaches. A recent article on the Health Affairs Blog addresses this question by illustrating the many variables that go into determining what constitutes “success” and suggesting that success be viewed from a number of perspectives, including: success for entire communities success from the perspective of individual patients success based on the effectiveness of addressing specific social needs (such as housing, transportation, or food security) The article also describes the different ways that [...]

iqtsupport2017-01-31T06:00:30-05:00January 31, 2017|Uncategorized|

New Regs Seek to Improve Nursing Home Experience for Residents

New Medicare regulations should improve the quality of life of nursing home residents. The regulations, to be introduced in three phases, give residents more meal options, their choice of roommates, and improved procedures for addressing grievances. They also give residents the right to challenge discharges, expanded protection from abuse, and the promise of better, more qualified staff members to serve them. Learn more about the new regulations and how they seek to improve the quality of life for nursing home residents in this Kaiser Health News report.

iqtsupport2017-01-10T09:12:38-05:00January 10, 2017|Uncategorized|