A Message from the Director
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Dear Colleagues;
It's hard to believe we're already well into 2019! There is certainly plenty of telehealth activity occurring regionally and nationally, with many upcoming educational events on the horizon (see specific sections below), including our
2019 Northeast Regional Telehealth Conference - the
Call for Presentations
, as well as
Sponsorship/Exhibitor
opportunities are now open! There is also a great deal of telehealth program planning, implementation, and expansion going on around the region, and continued efforts to expand current policy, with
36 telehealth related bills under consideration by State legislatures across the Northeast, covering private payer and Medicaid reimbursement, broadband, substance use disorders, cross-state licensure, issues around regulatory, licensing and advisory boards, and more.
We also wanted to highlight a new Project ECHO opportunity for stakeholders within New England. Colleagues at Boston Medical Center are now offering the
N
ew England Office-Based Addiction Treatment Extension for Community Health Outcomes
(NE OBAT ECHO)
for health care providers, mental health counselors, and other support team members located in New England, who are providing care for patients with Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) in office-based settings. The first session will begin
February 21,
and another session will be offered in August, 2019. For more session details, or to start the registration process, please click
here
.
And finally we have a quick favor to ask of you - our colleagues with the National Telehealth Technology Assessment Center (TTAC), are currently collecting responses for their biennial
Technology Survey
. The data collected helps TTAC to not only inventory current telehealth technologies in use across the country, but also to identify key needs and interests, so they may better serve stakeholders moving forward.
Responses are due by February 15 - many thanks in advance for sharing your input!
We wish you a healthy and productive year, and as always, please don't hesitate to reach out with questions, to share your successes, or just to catch up!
Best Wishes on Behalf of the NETRC Team,
Danielle Louder - Program Director
P.S.
Please stayed tuned for an introduction to our
new NETRC Project Manager
soon!
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Join us for the NETRC Annual Conference!
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A Practical Tour of the Telehealth Landscape...
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The Northeast Telehealth Resource Center is thrilled to return to Portland, ME for our 5th Annual Regional Telehealth Conference
June 17-18, 2019!
Our
Call for Presentations
is now open - submissions are
due March 1, 2019.
Sponsorship/Exhibitor
opportunities are now available as well!
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Upcoming & Archived Webinars
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National TRC Webinar Series
February 21 - 2:00pm Eastern
Federal and State Policy Updates for CY2019 - Including CMS Changes and State Level Trends
CCHP and gpTRAC will discuss:
CY 2019 Medicare Telehealth Policy Changes, Medicare Advantage Plans & Telehealth, Latest on Telehealth & Substance Use Disorder, Developments on the State Level, FQHCs & RHCs.
Click on the image above to register!
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And in case you missed them...
December 6:
The National Telehealth Technology Assessment Center (TTAC) team presents the latest in Video Platforms
December 10: The New York Telehealth Learning Collaborative presents: Medicare Telehealth Changes for 2019
January 17: CTRC presents: Finding and Vetting the Perfect Specialty Service Provider
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HRSA Health Workforce-Grand Rounds Webinar Series
Telehealth Training Models for the Health Workforce
February 20, 2019
2:00-3:30pm ET
This webinar will: Explore opportunities to optimize telehealth technology, Identify telehealth strategies and models in hard to reach populations including both rural and urban communities, and Highlight successful telehealth training models.
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Upcoming Conferences/Events
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Regional Telehealth Resource Center Conferences
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Many of the Regional Telehealth Resource Centers host events throughout the year. Check out the National Consortium of TRCs website to find dates and locations!
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Upcoming National Conferences
Orlando, FL
New Orleans, LA
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TTAC Telehealth Technology Survey
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SURVEY MUST BECOMPLETED BY 2/15/19
Many thanks for your time and input!
Your response will help TTAC to determine:
- Telemedicine Technologies that are currently being used in telemedicine programs across the country
- Telemedicine Technologies that may be of interest for future implementation
- How TTAC can best provide relevant information and technology resources to telemedicine users
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What's new for telehealth policy in 2019?
CCHP News, Jan. 1, 2019
Link
The Center for Connected Health Policy provides a summary of major telehealth reimbursement and policy changes that took place in 2018 and are being enacted starting January 2019.
A teledermatology initiative to increase access for Community Health Center patients: a case study
NEJM Catalyst, January 3, 2019
Link
A collaborative of community health centers in eastern Massachusetts reports on successes and workflow challenges with implementing store-and-forward teledermatology services in partnership with 3Derm Systems.
CMS pushes telehealth, mHealth, but are providers paying attention?
mHealth Intelligence, January 09, 2019
Link
A new survey finds that two-thirds of healthcare providers don't know about new opportunities for telehealth and mHealth reimbursement from CMS - even though most would benefit.
Patients, clinicians satisfied with telehealth for follow-up care
Healthcare Analytics News, January 15, 2019
Link
A recent study by Massachusetts General Hospital
found that over half of clinicians reported higher efficiency in a telemedicine visit compared to traditional office visits and both patients and clinicians reported no difference in the overall quality of the virtual visits versus traditional office visits.
Telehealth and the law: What hospital executives should know about kickback and false claims rules
Healthcare Finance, January 18, 2019
Link
The federal Anti-Kickback Statute and the Stark Law have some strict requirements for compliance, and providers would do well to take note.
Key questions before partnering with telehealth specialty providers
Healthcare Informatics, January 18, 2019
Link
For primary care clinics, especially those in rural areas, establishing solid relationships with organizations that provide specialty telehealth services can vastly improve the number of services they can offer their patients. But building and maintaining those relationships so that they make sense financially and in terms of quality and patient satisfaction takes a lot of work.
CMS pushes telehealth to replace some in-person visits in Medicare Advantage Plans
mHealth Intelligence, January 18, 2019
Link
CMS is updating its Value-Based Insurance Design model of care to allow telehealth to replace certain in-person medical visits in Medicare Advantage plans.
Telemedicine licensure compact is now live in half the country
mHealth Intelligence, January 10, 2019
Link
25 states are now part of the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, which gives physicians an expedited means of applying for a license to practice telehealth in member states.
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Recommended Telehealth Research/Resources
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The Northeast Telehealth Resource Center (a proud member of the
National Consortium of Telehealth Resource Centers) aims to increase access to quality health care services for rural and medically underserved populations through Telehealth. Our service area includes New England, Northern New Jersey, and New York. Learn more at
www.netrc.org
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This newsletter was made possible by grant number G22RH30352 from the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth, Health Resources and Services Administration, DHHS
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