Telehealth: A New Dimension to Healthcare
Advancements in technology and the growth of the internet have led to dramatic changes in daily life. It has impacted how we communicate, how we travel, how we shop and how we learn. The field of healthcare is no exception. Technology has improved how medical professionals access and share information and provide care to patients. […]
2017 and Telehealth: An Encouraging Year for Expanded State Licensing Laws and Reimbursement Policies
Steady wins the race applies to telehealth’s entry into the mainstream of healthcare. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reports that 61% of the nation’s healthcare institutions are employing some sort of telemedicine service, and more and more states are working to come up with viable guidelines for enacting telehealth laws and reimbursement policies. As […]
The New Face of Healthcare
Almost one hundred years ago, a multi-talented inventor and writer by the name of Hugo Gernsback predicted a technology that would allow a physician to diagnose a patient using video. Today, that technology is known as Telehealth. The concept of Telehealth dates as far back as the invention of the telephone with healthcare professionals consulting […]
Telemedicine: A Key Component of the Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018
On Tuesday, April 24, 2018, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) unanimously passed the Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018. This bipartisan committee consulted with officials and subject-matter experts from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Substance […]
Telemedicine is Revolutionizing Inmate Care Within Texas Prisons
The healthcare industry is evolving fast to keep up with the demands of our growing population. While you may read about the aging Baby Boomer population as health care’s greatest challenge, other issues require similar attention. Dealing with inmate health in state prisons has become just as much of a hurdle. Telemedicine has already helped […]
Understanding Telemedicine’s History to Employ its Future
Around 70 years ago, Telemedicine made its debut to reach patients in otherwise fairly inaccessible regions where the patients lived. In fact, the first concept for telemedicine was prototyped in the early 20th century in what was known as the ‘Teledactyl,’ a machine that offered a video picture of a patient while a doctor remotely […]
Telehealth and HIPAA Compliance
Telehealth provides a number of benefits to patients and providers, such as increased access to care, improved efficiency, and increased communication. However, if you’re using a videoconferencing service that is not HIPAA-compliant, you are putting your patients’ protected health information in jeopardy and reducing your credibility as a trustworthy health provider. Consequences of a HIPAA […]
How State Prisons Use Telemedicine to Improve Care and Reduce Costs
Telemedicine is growing in popularity across numerous industries. One of the most beneficial uses of this technology occurs within the United States prison system. This innovative tech is changing the way we engage with healthcare, particularly in the areas of mental health. Prison operators recognize the enormous benefits of Telemedicine. Here, we examine how state […]
Avoid Fines by Using a HIPAA-Compliant Video Service
Telemedicine services are an increasingly popular amenity for healthcare providers to offer patients, but unless the video service used is specifically developed for healthcare providers, it is likely in violation of HIPAA and could result in sizable fines. HIPAA Rules The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) contains two rules that dictate how healthcare providers must protect […]
The 6 Largest HIPAA Fines of 2017
Anyone handling protected health information (PHI), as defined under HIPAA, accepts a strong obligation to protect it. Transferring or storing it insecurely can be very costly. The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) collected penalties of over a million dollars six times in 2017 for violations. Five of these cases involved failure to protect electronic data. […]