{"id":5603,"date":"2018-09-14T05:13:11","date_gmt":"2018-09-14T05:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tele.healthcare\/?p=5603"},"modified":"2018-09-14T05:13:11","modified_gmt":"2018-09-14T05:13:11","slug":"adopting-telemedicine-increases-ability-to-treat-in-place-and-lower-hospitalizations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drmiltie.com\/at-home-testing\/adopting-telemedicine-increases-ability-to-treat-in-place-and-lower-hospitalizations\/","title":{"rendered":"Adopting Telemedicine Increases Ability to Treat in Place and Lower Hospitalizations"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Mary Jo Gorman, MD, MBA<\/a> <\/span> <\/span> ON
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Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) nationwide are experiencing increasing challenges. These include sicker patients, higher turnover in staff, narrowing of referral networks, increased regulatory oversight and pressure to achieve certain clinical outcomes.<\/p>\n

Telemedicine is proving to be a vehicle by which SNFs can address these issues and meet the demands of our nation\u2019s ever-increasing aging population. Adopting telemedicine offers ways to deliver care on-demand, cost effectively and efficiently; a solution where all constituents stand to benefit.<\/p>\n

Based on its successes in improving care and reducing costs, telemedicine is growing at a rapid pace. It is expected that the number of patients using telehealth services will rise to seven million this year, up from less than 350,000 in 2013. (1)<\/sup><\/p>\n

Broadly defined, telemedicine encompasses the monitoring, diagnosing and treating of patients from a distance using technology. Recent technological advances \u2013 especially emergent ones over the past 10 years \u2013have enabled medical providers at many levels to be virtually at the patient\u2019s bedside like never before.<\/p>\n

Telemedicine has been proven to deliver results across a variety of settings with definitive positive impact on measurables relating to mortality, length of stay, readmissions, emergency room visits and improved access to caregivers.<\/p>\n

Evolution of the Emergence and Acceptance of Telemedicine<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

In October 2012, Medicare started rewarding hospitals that were providing high-quality care for their patients through the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program. Under the VBP, hospitals are paid for inpatient acute care services based on quality of care \u2014 not the volume of services they provide. To this end, a hospital\u2019s Total Performance Score (TPS) and unplanned readmissions are significantly and inversely related to readmission rates.(2)<\/sup><\/p>\n

These new payment models have driven hospitals to evaluate the variables that might impact the readmissions of their patients. One of the most common discharge locations for hospitalized patients are SNFs. This increased scrutiny has required that facilities evaluate how they can provide services that prevent readmissions so that they can remain a preferred referral source.<\/p>\n

Beginning Oct. 1, the SNF VBP Program will begin to reward (or penalize) SNFs for 2017 performance by offering incentive payments for the quality of care they deliver to Medicare patients. In this new environment, SNFs across the nation are now \u2014 more than ever \u2014 seeking creative ways to utilize telemedicine to distinguish themselves with their hospital partners and deliver a higher level of care to their patients by treating them in place, thereby avoiding hospital transfers.<\/p>\n

Telemedicine directly supports the Institute for Healthcare Improvement\u2019s<\/a> (IHI) Triple Aim. The IHI created the Triple Aim framework, with a mission focused on improving the patient experience of care, improving the health of populations and reducing the per capita cost of health care.<\/p>\n

Telemedicine complements the Triple Aim in the following ways:<\/p>\n