The COVID pandemic has brought about a new paradigm to our healthcare system, in which both patients and providers are facing the need to conduct healthcare from afar. Telehealth is the distribution of health-related services and information via telecommunication technologies. It allows long-distance patient-clinician contact, care, advice, reminders, education, intervention, monitoring, and remote admissions. In Evergreen Health Promotion we use video and phone for our telehealth visits.
Telehealth is applicable only to some healthcare needs and functionalities. For example, giving injection or drawing blood for lab work are in-person only services. But it is a very helpful solutions for many of the services we provide to you, our patients.
Remote Patient Monitoring is an additional type of telehealth we are delighted to provide:
RPM is the application of technology to enable healthcare providers to remotely monitor certain aspects of a patient's health, such as the daily levels of Blood Pressure, Blood Sugar, weight, and Blood Oxygen. Via this technology the data is collected from the patient, in the comfort and safety of their own home, and digitally transmitted to the provider in real-time. RPM devices, such as a blood pressure cuff, a glucometer, an oximeter, or a scale, transmit the reading in real-time directly to the patient’s chart within the healthcare provider’s EHR. It has become an increasingly popular telehealth option because of these reasons:
Telehealth is applicable only to some healthcare needs and functionalities. For example, giving injection or drawing blood for lab work are in-person only services. But it is a very helpful solutions for many of the services we provide to you, our patients.
Remote Patient Monitoring is an additional type of telehealth we are delighted to provide:
RPM is the application of technology to enable healthcare providers to remotely monitor certain aspects of a patient's health, such as the daily levels of Blood Pressure, Blood Sugar, weight, and Blood Oxygen. Via this technology the data is collected from the patient, in the comfort and safety of their own home, and digitally transmitted to the provider in real-time. RPM devices, such as a blood pressure cuff, a glucometer, an oximeter, or a scale, transmit the reading in real-time directly to the patient’s chart within the healthcare provider’s EHR. It has become an increasingly popular telehealth option because of these reasons:
- RPM increases patients’ access to care and decreases healthcare delivery costs.
- Incorporating RPM in chronic disease management may significantly improve an individual's quality of life, by allowing patients to maintain independence, prevent complications, and to minimize personal costs.
- RPM enables the provider an early detection of deterioration, to which they can respond immediately, and thereby the need for costly emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and the duration of hospital stays is reduced.
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We have partnered with AccuHealth, a provider of RPM services. AccuHealth is fully integrated with AthenaHealth, our EHR. RPM is fully covered by Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans, and by some commercial plans (a prior authorization may be needed to verify coverage). Once referred to the program, AccuHealth provides patients with their RPM device, and trains them in how to use it. When the patient performs their daily home check up the reading is received and registered in the patient’s chart. If the reading is abnormal an AccuHealth agent will immediately call the patient to follow-up with them. If the reading is critical, an alert is sent to Evergreen Health Promotion, and we respond to it as soon as we are able.
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