Health IT News from Federal Agencies and Capitol Hill – Edited by Carolyn Bloch
In 2011, approximately 3.4 million Medicare beneficiaries received home healthcare and the program spent about 18.4 billion on home health services. Today, payments are in decline and more cuts are on the horizon. Meanwhile the population is getting older, sicker, and demanding more and more complex services. The result is that there is a continued shift toward more skilled nursing and therapy services in the home. (more…)
Veterans Health Administration’s VISN 20 Chief Medical Officer Frank Marre reports that VISN 20 is currently working on developing an up-to-date responsive call center. This is not a small problem as VISN 20 receives about 200,000 calls per month but roughly 40,000 veterans hang up because of poor phone service and long waits. (more…)
The REACH Montana Telehealth Network is able to link providers to each other through live interactive video technology from the hub site in Great Falls, Montana where the network currently serves rural counties in the north central region of the state. (more…)
World Congress has announced that two upcoming meetings to focus on Telehealth and Telemedicine are coming soon. The 2nd Annual Telemedicine Summit on December 2-3, 2013 will take place in Anaheim CA and the 2014 Telehealth Summit will take place January 30-31, 2014 in Orlando Florida. (more…)
Physician practices especially those in medically underserved areas, face multiple barriers to adopting and using EHRs due to financial burdens and the lack of IT resources and expertise. EHRs are particularly valuable in underserved areas because they can flag much needed services to prevent illnesses, make records more accurate, and be easily shared among providers. (more…)
U.S Senators Jay Rockefeller, Joe Manchin, and Congressman Nick Rahall recently announced a multi-million dollar federal award to help expand broadband infrastructure and high-speed internet access to at least 40,000 rural homes and businesses in West Virginia. (more…)
USDA Rural Development’s Delta Health Care Services Grant Program recently awarded funding. The grant program provides financial assistance to address the continued unmet health needs in the Delta region. Since 2009, USDA has supported ten projects with almost $6 million available through the grant program. (more…)