As healthcare and its use of telehealth products and services continues to change and evolve fast and furiously, it can be difficult to stay on top of it all. Yet the pace of news, research, and innovation is accelerating, from emerging research on COVID-19 to advances in AI. There are new models for healthcare delivery to consider and exciting experiments in care delivery around the country. Here’s our monthly roundup of today’s important healthcare topics and trends in telehealth.
COVID-19 Survey: Doctors Like Telehealth and Want to Continue Using It
mHealth Intelligence
Nearly 70% of 1,600 healthcare providers surveyed recently by the COVID-19 Healthcare Coalition say they are motivated to use telehealth more because of the experiences they’ve had during the COVID-19 pandemic. And more than three-quarters of respondents said telehealth helped them provide quality care for their patients. Read more here.
American Telemedicine Association Partners with ORCHA to Launch Review Process in the U.S. to Ensure Patients Have Access to Safe and Effective Apps
ATA News
Noting that 85% of health apps in the United States don’t meet quality thresholds, the American Telemedicine Association has announced a new partnership withORCHA(Organization for the Review of Care and Health Apps) to create a review process for the U.S. to enable healthcare providers, insurers, and employers to give patients access to safe and effective health apps. Read more here.
Pandemic Boosts Transition to Virtual Primary Care
Dallas Business Journal
The Dallas Business Journal reports that virtual primary care could soon become more common as employers and employees adjust to a new normal, where telemedicine is the preferred place of treatment. In January and February of 2020, Humana members were scheduling a few hundred telemedicine visits per day, and by April that number had increased to over one million. COVID-19 is accelerating the shift, eliminating most consumers’ reluctance to use virtual care. Read more here.
PCORI Researchers Are Answering Rapidly Emerging Questions about Telehealth
PCORI Blog
Researchers with the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) discuss the expansion of telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic, including how to best harness its capabilities and reach populations that have limited access to technology or need culturally tailored interventions. Read more here.
Artificial Intelligence Model Detects Asymptomatic COVID-19 Infections Through Cellphone-Recorded Coughs
MIT News
In a paper published recently in theIEEE Journal of Engineering in Medicine and Biology, a team at MIT reports on an AI model that distinguishes asymptomatic people from healthy individuals through forced-cough recordings, which people voluntarily submitted through web browsers and devices such as cellphones and laptops. The results, the researchers say, might provide a convenient screening tool for people who may not suspect they are infected with COVID-19. Read more here.
For more information on the latest trends in telehealth, check out our resources and blog.