Telehealth Overview, Utilization and Trends

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Gone are the days of taking the morning off from work to squeeze in a last minute doctor’s appointment to diagnose the flu-like symptoms you developed over night. The new alternative is telehealth, a concept that is bringing innovation to the traditional methods of healthcare delivery and accessibility, providing patients and doctors with greater flexibility and efficiency. Telehealth has already taken 2014 by storm and has instantly become the new healthcare IT buzz word. So much so that DoseSpot created a new Telehealth White Paper to share information on current telehealth utilization and upcoming trends. Within the white paper you will also find information on how telehealth companies can leverage e-Prescribing software to enhance the telehealth visit for both doctors and patients.

To download DoseSpot’s Telehealth White Paper, please visit www.dosespot.com/telehealth-whitepaper.

Doctors Utilize Mobile Devices

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It’s no surprise that doctors are using mobile devices more than ever in the workplace. Pagers have long been replaced by iPhones and tablets, providing doctors with on the go access to:

• Patient medical information and history
• e-Prescribing software including drug-drug and drug-allergy interaction checking
• Email
• Medical references including image libraries
• Research resources; and
• A nearly unlimited number of applications courtesy of the Apple App Store

The latest in medical software advancements include telehealth capabilities, allowing doctors to visit with their patients via video conferencing software in addition to phone and email communication. Doctors can also connect with fellow healthcare professionals on their mobile device to discuss a patient encounter or field a question with the click of a button.

Adoption of health information technology continues to grow as organizations go for Meaningful Use certification. A 2013 survey fielded by Deloitte revealed that 43 percent of physicians currently use smartphones or tablets to access electronic health records, e-Prescribing and applications for communicating with other health care professionals. Additionally, 73 percent of physicians surveyed believe that health information technology will improve the quality of long term care provided.

Last year was a big year for adoption of mobile technology in healthcare but 2014 is slated to be the biggest yet. Stay tuned for an upcoming whitepaper on the current telehealth market plus the latest in industry trends and utilization.  Pre-register to receive the telehealth whitepaper at http://www.dosespot.com/telehealth-whitepaper.

E-Prescribing 101

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Electronic prescribing is not just the ability to send prescriptions electronically to pharmacies. E-Prescribing can also increase care quality in a number of ways:

• E-prescribing makes sure that the prescriber is providing enough specific information for the pharmacist to fill the prescription, including the name of the drug, the dosage, its physical form, the route, and the physician’s instructions.
• Electronic prescribing software eliminates the time and effort of trying to understand the prescriber’s handwriting, as well as the chance of an error in that translation.
• E-prescribing significantly reduces the chance that the prescriber’s intentions are misinterpreted.
• E-prescribing is often used in conjuction with clinical decision support to ensure that any drug to drug interactions or drug to diagnosis issues are found and reported to the physician before the prescription order is completed.

Electronic prescribing is considered one of the most important areas of Healthcare IT, which is why Medicare created payment incentives for physicians who use a qualified e-prescribing system. In 2009, the incentives are an increase of 2% in revenue for each patient when e-prescribing is used. Due to the 2009 HITECH Act, electronic prescribing is required as part of any EMR (EHR) which qualifies for Medicare reimbursement in 2011.