Telehealth app expands access for veterans

More than 700,000 VA health members used telehealth services last year, but new services unveiled last week may vastly expand that number. Veterans can use a new app to make health care appointments from a cell phone and link to telehealth-delivered mental health services. The service is available only for veterans seeking health care inside the VA system. ( Washington Examiner)

Now, back to the business of fixing the ACA
Now that the Senate has rejected a wave of bills to repeal, replace or both, it’s time to get down to addressing the real problems with the ACA. In a Commonwealth Fund opinion piece, David Blumenthal and Sara Collins queue up three key proposals to stabilize the health care market and gain forward traction: settle on cost-sharing reductions with insurers; ensure individual market options are available in all counties; and make appropriations for re-insurance so health plans don’t sink under unexpectedly high enrollee costs. The White House has signaled that Congress needs to move ahead with health care, not move on. In a separate piece, insurers in Ohio agree: it’s time to settle on the rules of the game for plans in the ACA marketplaces. ( Commonwealth Fund blog; Buffalo News ; Chicago Tribune)

Med schools launch program focused on humanity and health
Traditional medical education doesn’t outright address the importance of compassion in patient care, explains John Raymond, CEO of the Medical College of Wisconsin. He and counterparts across the country are trying to do something about that, through the National Transformation Network. The schools will work together to develop a curriculum focused on three components: character, competence and caring. The other participants: Mayo Clinic School of Medicine, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, UCSF School of Medicine and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. ( Modern Healthcare)

Health care cost-sharing ministries require leap of faith

They’re not insurance, and they don’t claim to be. But health care ministries like Medi-Share and Christian Healthcare Ministries pool member resources to pay health care bills for other members. Buyer beware: Members promise to “bear one another’s burdens,” but there’s no contract, thus no guarantee your health bills will be covered by fellow members. These private ministries don’t pay for preventive care, medical supplies and many required services under the ACA, but they’re perfectly legal. And they’re growing in popularity; $500 co-pays per incident and $150 monthly premiums are more affordable than many marketplace plans. ( Kaiser Health News)

Personalized medicine tops consumer "want" list
Health care is beginning to catch on to the personalized delivery of products and services. Trending now: devices that analyze saliva and dispense a customized vitamin. Or a biometric reader that creates a personalized meal plan—and then delivers meals to your front door. Patient control of data, services on demand and that eliminate the need for physical presence are among elements that resonate in a consumer-driven health care economy. (Forbes)

Kicked out of hospice: profiles of patients who don't die fast enough
More than 18 percent of U.S. hospice patients are discharged from end-of-life care alive, either because of improved conditions or lost benefits. USA Today profiles some of the families affected by these decisions, including Krissy Tagtmeir and her dying father, John. Some patients leave hospice because they are indeed better. But more than half of the time, the patient isn’t dying fast enough to qualify for continued Medicare coverage. In John Tagtmeir's case, these patients may linger, but they no longer have access to the level of medical supervision to which they had become accustomed, the article explains. (USA Today)

Wisconsin firm microchips employees: Three Square Market, a Wisconsin company that designs software for break rooms, is the first U.S. business to microchip its employees to allow them to pay for snacks in the company break room, open doors, log in to computers and store medical and health information. The project—optional for employees—went live August 1. ( Independent)