Telehealth
MobiHealthNews highlights providers' efforts to address treating, testing and mapping the coronavirus.
Its FutureScape 2021 report foresees a half-decade of health systems still grappling with – but learning from – the COVID-19 disruption of the past year.
Protecting its patients from COVID-19, the 64-site health center moved from very limited telemedicine capabilities to wide-ranging virtual care supported by an FCC grant.
Digital health advocates expressed mixed feelings about the colossal bill, which also authorized funding for telehealth work and rural hospital operations.
The health system found that patients who received care at their facilities had lower observed mortality rates than the national average, and remote patient monitoring may have been one difference-maker.
The COVID-19 crisis prompted an enormous uptick in virtual care use from patients and providers – but it has also raised a number of questions about telehealth's security, accessibility and longevity.

Abortion pills by VAlaSiurua, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
If the bill is signed by Gov. Mike DeWine, Ohio would become the 20th state requiring a prescribing clinician to be in the presence of a patient when providing a medication abortion.
Philips said the acquisition "fits perfectly" with its strategy to be a leading provider of in-home care management technology.
For the first three quarters of 2020, it has registered a 40% reduction in its patient no-show rate, compared with face-to-face visits.
Telehealth relies on reliable, secure connectivity — and that's not something we can take for granted.