Telemedicine rates jump 20% during the pandemic, is this the new norm for healthcare?

ISMP recently spoke to a hospital nurse working in a location where the coronavirus (COVID-19) has again surged with a vengeance, causing a significant increase in patient admissions to the intensive care unit (ICU) and frequent, tragic fatalities.

He was particularly concerned about the many opportunities for serious medication errors when providing what he called “pandemic nursing” care—the rushed, physically overwhelming, and emotionally draining care provided to an onslaught of critically ill patients.

A Denver-based health system has used remote monitoring to care for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients who do not require hospitalization.

Although there are therapeutics for treating seriously ill COVID-19 patients in the inpatient setting—remdesivir and dexamethasone—there are no therapeutics that have been found effective in treating coronavirus patients in the outpatient setting. Given that limitation, monitoring low-acuity COVID-19 patients at home is a viable option.

The volume and financial value of telemedicine visits will increase significantly in 2020 due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, according to a new report.

The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred widespread adoption of telemedicine along several fronts at health systems, hospitals, and physician practices—primarily over concern about the spread of the novel coronavirus in healthcare settings. Telemedicine visits for nonemergency care also have been shown to be efficient and effective from both the healthcare provider and patient perspectives.

With healthcare workers and their loved ones at risk, provider organizations are looking for ways to leverage technology to keep their workers healthy while continuing to deliver essential healthcare services in their communities. Increasingly, they are looking in a familiar place—remote patient monitoring (RPM)—but with a twist. Now, in some cases, those patients are also employees.

When trying to procure necessary supplies during a disaster or emergency, be aware of potential fraud, document all your contracting activities, and ensure staff are trained and up-to-date on your facility’s contracting policies. These are just some of the best practices and recommendations offered in a Department of Defense (DOD) Inspector General report released June 2, “Special Report on Best Practices and Lessons Learned for DoD Contracting Officials in the Pandemic Environment.”

Get a firm handle on your COVID-19 case data now that a new interim final rule requires the information to be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as a Medicare Condition of Participation (CoP).

The interim rule, which was pre-published for public inspection late Thursday, says the data must be reported daily as specified by HHS and points to a July FAQ for the current list of information sets that must be reported.

The change means that as soon as the interim rule is posted to the Federal Register—scheduled for September 2, 2020—failures to report the data could result in a condition-level deficiency and impact your ability to bill Medicare.

CMS has signaled that accrediting organizations (AO) like HFAP can resume even more surveys in areas where the COVID-19 patient surge is slowing. But what will HFAP surveyors be looking for?

In late August, the oldest of the accrediting organizations released its 2020 HFAP Quality Review, highlighting the problems and trends identified by surveyors during on-site visits in 2019 at acute care hospitals, critical access hospitals, laboratories, and ambulatory surgery centers.

“The Quality Review plays a vital role in our commitment to help continuously improve the quality of care that HFAP-accredited organizations provide,” said Meg Gravesmill, CEO of AAHHS/HFAP, in a statement announcing the release of the review. “This can be used as a self-assessment guide and should be reviewed by organizations as they evaluate their yearly performance. In light of the global pandemic, it is especially important for organizations to heighten awareness of infection prevention and emergency management standards.”