{"id":28305,"date":"2020-07-21T15:57:20","date_gmt":"2020-07-21T15:57:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.mtelehealth.com\/?p=28305"},"modified":"2020-07-21T15:57:20","modified_gmt":"2020-07-21T15:57:20","slug":"consortium-uses-fcc-covid-19-funds-to-bring-telehealth-to-the-underserved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drmiltie.com\/at-home-testing\/consortium-uses-fcc-covid-19-funds-to-bring-telehealth-to-the-underserved\/","title":{"rendered":"Consortium uses FCC COVID-19 funds to bring telehealth to the underserved"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Boston-based MA FQHC Telehealth Consortium was created for Federally Qualified Health Centers to come together to master telehealth so that their patients could access quality care despite the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before this time, FQHCs generally struggled to get telehealth off the ground because of the expense, lack of reimbursement and issues related to access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE PROBLEM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Telehealth expenses such as laptops, webcams and headsets for provider-side enablement are purchases that FQHCs often cannot fit into their budgets. Supporting patient-side enablement and access also is a persistent issue for FQHCs seeking to do more telehealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Historically, due to income disparities, patient populations for FQHCs have less access to the necessary equipment, such as phones, tablets or computers with cameras, as well as reliable broadband in order to carry out a successful telehealth appointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PROPOSAL<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPre-COVID-19, most telehealth initiatives were led by very early adopters, were grant-funded, and tended to focus on specialty conditions, like dermatology, and provider-to-provider consultations,\u201d said Matt Mullaney, chief finance and strategy officer of Community Care Cooperative, the lead organization of the MA FQHC Telehealth Consortium. \u201cThese initiatives were successful based on their limited aims, but they did not offer the opportunity to transform the clinical model.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pandemic has made telehealth crucial for many types of care \u2013 especially primary care \u2013 and patients and providers now are more open to the idea than ever, Mullaney noted. With that receptivity, the consortium had a new opportunity to support the expansion of telehealth offerings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The MA FQHC Telehealth Consortium needed to get telehealth right, and believed that through the consortium it could leverage collective strengths to increase telehealth training and resources to better serve Massachusetts\u2019 most vulnerable patients and provide them with quality care during the COVID-19 crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MARKETPLACE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many vendors of telemedicine technology and services on the health IT market today.\u00a0Healthcare IT News<\/em>\u00a0recently compiled a comprehensive list of them, with detailed descriptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MEETING THE CHALLENGE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The MA FQHC Telehealth Consortium\u2019s approach to technology is guided by the Telehealth Maturity Model developed as a consortium. This model has \u201ctechnology & tools\u201d as a domain, but sets forth goals for the domain rather than specifying a particular, set solution for all providers and patients to adopt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe believe that our focus on ends rather than means is appropriate given the variety of EHRs in use by consortium members; the diversity of patient circumstances; the immaturity of the industry; and the rapidity of the evolution we are undergoing,\u201d Mullaney explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor example, in the four months since the pandemic sharply reduced in-person visits, some health centers that use NextGen have adopted OTTO Health, a telehealth platform acquired by NextGen in December 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHowever, others using the same EHR continue to use Zoom or Doxy.me for visits because they were available, rapidly adopted in the first few days of the pandemic and are providing a reasonable technical solution for providers and patients,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe believe most consortium members have found at least a \u2018local minimum\u2019 in the telehealth technology equation, a stable condition in which they can conduct telehealth today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As better solutions emerge, and a truly integrated clinical model is developed, some members will want to invest the money and energy to move to other, longer-term technology solutions, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe variety we find in telehealth platform options, and combinations of options, pales in comparison to the Wild West of options available in devices, data plans and remote monitoring,\u201d Mullaney said. \u201cHere, even seemingly simple questions such as ‘Which device should I buy for patients who need visits, but lack a phone?’ turn out to be complicated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smartphones need data plans, and it is not easy finding the best price for device and data plan, the best terms in case a device is lost or damaged, and the best coverage for patients in a given geography, he noted. The consortium is working with a technology partner that brings experience and expertise to answering these questions, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond these answers, he added, are even more questions, such as: ‘Which patients should receive devices? How should success be measured and even ROI with respect to the healthcare objectives? Should the consortium enable other functionality, for example, allow a child in the home to access classes via Zoom?’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese are all questions that the FCC telehealth award program is helping us to explore, pragmatically and efficiently, and to learn from going forward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RESULTS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In mid-March, the MA FQHC Telehealth Consortium set goals for health center services and revenue by service line. These goals were aggressive but pragmatic, intended to hold the organization accountable to ensuring patient access wherever it could and to generating revenue to sustain health center operations during the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The goals to achieve by May 1:<\/p>\n\n\n\n