From csbritain at gmail.com  Wed Jul  2 14:00:07 2014
From: csbritain at gmail.com (Catherine S Britain)
Date: Wed, 02 Jul 2014 21:00:07 +0000
Subject: [TAO] MobiHealthNews Article: Aetna to launch tablet-based NeoCare
 program for parents with babies in the NICU Shared by: Catherine S Britain
Message-ID: <d3e82bf31ac2b264e60563c58911f773@mobihealthnews.com>

TAO listserv,<br><br>

<strong>Catherine S Britain</strong> has shared the following MobiHealthNews
article with you: <br><br>
<strong>Aetna to launch tablet-based NeoCare program for parents with babies
in the NICU</strong><br>
<strong>By: </strong>Brian Dolan<br>
<strong>Published: </strong>July 1, 2014 (10:36 am)<br><br>

The full text of this article is available on MobiHealthNews at the
following URL: <a
href="http://mobihealthnews.com/34542/aetna-to-launch-tablet-based-neocare-program-for-parents-with-babies-in-the-nicu/">http://mobihealthnews.com/34542/aetna-to-launch-tablet-based-neocare-program-for-parents-with-babies-in-the-nicu/</a><br><br>

Catherine S Britain also shared the following remarks, relevant to this
article: Interesting application.<br><br>

Below is an excerpt of the full MobiHealthNews article:<br><br>


Aetna will soon launch a new mobile-based offering, called NeoCare, for
members who are new parents with infants in neonatal intensive care units
(NICUs). NeoCare Solutions, which is a startup that is a part of Aetna's
Healthagen's subsidiary, offers a tablet-based app that keeps parents
connected to a NeoCoach -- a registered nurse or social worker -- who
supports them throughout their child's time in the NICU and during their
transition home.

"The NeoCare program aids parents in becoming their own child?s empowered
advocate, helps them navigate the complexity of the NICU, and provides much
needed emotional support," NeoCare's President and Founder Dr. Jeffrey
Jacques wrote in a blog post in May. "Our technology platform, leveraged by
the parents through an iPad application, provides answers to questions such
as: How do I interact with the NICU staff? How do I ask doctors difficult
questions? How do I come to grips with difficult news? What does that
diagnosis or that treatment mean? How can I best help my baby, and how do we
get home?"

Jacques helped create the program after experiencing this first hand with
his wife (who is also a physician) and their son in 2010.?

Aetna hasn't yet commercially?launched the program, which is still in pilot
mode, but Jacques said in May that the commercial launch was just a few
months away. On NeoCare's website the company directs interested Aetna
members?to contact their employer to request access to NeoCare. The program
requires that users have a tablet -- iPads, Android tablets, and Windows
tablets are supported, according to the company's FAQ. If a patient doesn't
have a tablet, NeoCare will provide one in some cases.

While the NeoCare program has no set duration, it is designed to support
parents through their child's first year of life. The company said that most
parents, however, don't seek assistance after six months using the program.

NeoCare writes that parents would ideally talk to their NeoCoach every two
days, but the coach is available at any time. The app includes live video
chat with coaches as well as text-based chatting. It also includes features
for tracking your baby's progress, capturing private thoughts on progress,
and a reminders feature for important events.

The Neo app is also designed as a?self-managed program so users can continue
using it after they are no longer working with a coach.

MobiHealthNews first noticed the NeoCare app when we reported on Aetna's
shuttering of InvolveCare, a caregiver app and support platform, in March.
At the time the NeoCare app in Apple's AppStore was listed as an app
developed by InvolveCare, and it may be that NeoCare is the result of a
pivot for the more general and built-out caregiver effort that Aetna pulled
the plug on.

Last year MobiHealthNews reported on LA's Cedars-Sinai Medical Center using
iPad and FaceTime to connect new mothers with their babies in the NICU, and
earlier this year we reported on a similar program at the University of
Minnesota Children's Hospital.

<br><br> 

<a
href="http://mobihealthnews.com/34542/aetna-to-launch-tablet-based-neocare-program-for-parents-with-babies-in-the-nicu/"><strong>Click
here to read the full article on MobiHealthNews &gt;&gt;</strong></a>
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From csbritain at gmail.com  Mon Jul  7 11:29:23 2014
From: csbritain at gmail.com (Cathy Britain)
Date: Mon, 07 Jul 2014 18:29:23 +0000
Subject: [TAO] MobiHealthNews Article: CMS to pay for telepsychiatry,
 but not remote ECG, fundus cameras in 2015 Shared by: Cathy Britain
Message-ID: <fb59eac06165e4a726107331a296219e@mobihealthnews.com>

TAO listserv,<br><br>

<strong>Cathy Britain</strong> has shared the following MobiHealthNews
article with you: <br><br>
<strong>CMS to pay for telepsychiatry, but not remote ECG, fundus cameras in
2015</strong><br>
<strong>By: </strong>Jonah Comstock<br>
<strong>Published: </strong>July 7, 2014 (1:29 pm)<br><br>

The full text of this article is available on MobiHealthNews at the
following URL: <a
href="http://mobihealthnews.com/34637/cms-to-pay-for-telepsychiatry-but-not-remote-ecg-fundus-cameras-in-2015/">http://mobihealthnews.com/34637/cms-to-pay-for-telepsychiatry-but-not-remote-ecg-fundus-cameras-in-2015/</a><br><br>

Cathy Britain also shared the following remarks, relevant to this article: A
bit of movement from CMS, but movement in the area of home monitoring
remains VERY disappointing.

Cathy<br><br>

Below is an excerpt of the full MobiHealthNews article:<br><br>


The Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) has?released an
unpublished proposed rule that will soon lead to changes in coverage under
Medicare Part B. Notably, the proposed rule will expand the range of
telehealth services that can be reimbursed under medicare

Since 2002, CMS has acknowledged that the range of use cases for
telemedicine is always changing, and has provided a mechanism for the public
to request coverage for additional services. When CMS publishes its lengthy
rule change documents (this one is 600 pages), it provides both a list of
additions it will be making, and a list of proposed additions it will not be
making with explanations as to why. New coverages have to fit into one of
two categories: either they are sufficiently similar to an existing covered
use case (category 1), or they are novel but the requester provides evidence
that offering the service via telehealth confers a clinical benefit
(category 2).

As we've noted before, the process is not a quick one. The current document
contains requests that were submitted in 2013 and will go into effect in
2015. Anything submitted now, would go into effect in 2016 at the earliest.?

In the new rule, CMS proposes to add seven?new telehealth reimbursement
codes, all category 1, that fit into three general areas. In the area of
mental healthcare, CMS has added codes for psychoanalysis and family
psychotherapy (which has two codes, one for family therapy with the patient
present and one for family therapy with the patient absent). The next two
codes are ones that?therapists use to report sessions that go overtime or
require additional time over the scheduled hour-long visit -- these will now
be eligible for reimbursement via telehealth.

Finally, outside the area of mental healthcare, CMS will add telemedicine
codes for an "annual wellness visit" including a personalized prevention
plan of service -- one code for the initial visit and another for subsequent
visits.

The restrictions on telehealth coverage of CMS still apply, of course. To be
reimbursed, CMS requires telehealth?to include?two-way audio and video
communication, making therapy over the phone still ineligible for
reimbursement. And for many services, an initial face-to-face visit is still
required.

Requests denied by CMS this time around include a number of applications of
new or recently developed mobile health tools. CMS still won't cover remote
interpretation and report for fundus photography or for any kind of ECG,
12-lead or otherwise. This affects technology like Welch Allyn's iExaminer
system or AliveCor's smartphone ECG.

"These services include a technical component (TC) and a professional
component (PC)," the guidance says. "By definition the TC portion of these
services needs to be furnished in the same location as the patient and thus
cannot be furnished via telehealth. The PC portion of these services could
be furnished without the patient being present in the same location."

Two other codes that were denied related to monitoring patients in their
homes with digital health devices -- one for "analysis of clinical data
stored in computers (eg,?ECGs, blood pressures, hematologic data" and one
for "collection and interpretation of physiologic data (eg, ECG, blood
pressure, glucose monitoring) digitally stored and/or transmitted by the
patient and/or caregiver to the physician or other qualified health care
professional." These were denied on the basis that they're not reimbursable
outside of a telemedicine context.

"These services are not separately payable by Medicare," the document says.
"It would be inappropriate to include services as telehealth services when
Medicare does not otherwise make a separate payment for them."

The telepsychiatry and annual wellness visit expansions are potentially good
news for a lot of telemedicine companies that deal in those areas, as well
as for hospitals and private practice physicians looking to increase the
number of patients they treat by offering video visits. However, the
document still shows a glacial pace for telehealth reimbursement, with many
more requests denied than accepted, and a very dim view of reimbursement
requests that involve new technology. Large scale Medicare reimbursement for
telehealth still seems to be a long way off.

<br><br> 

<a
href="http://mobihealthnews.com/34637/cms-to-pay-for-telepsychiatry-but-not-remote-ecg-fundus-cameras-in-2015/"><strong>Click
here to read the full article on MobiHealthNews &gt;&gt;</strong></a>
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From csbritain at gmail.com  Tue Jul 15 12:58:02 2014
From: csbritain at gmail.com (Catherine Britain)
Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 12:58:02 -0700
Subject: [TAO] Telemedicine Reimbursement Expansion Draft Lege Concept
Message-ID: <CADnKv6YgpBdJF6f9XuuhrGZdVDBhXJWYTVLNoMdeSwgfc-K=tg@mail.gmail.com>

Greetings,

The first draft of the Legislative Concept to expand telemedicine
reimbursement has been completed and reviewed by the work group.  We would
like to gather as much feedback as possible before our next meeting in
August.  Please review the concept and send your feedback to me at
csbritain at gmail.com by Friday August 1st.  Please refer your comments to a
specific section and line of the draft so that they accurately reflect what
you are speaking to.

The draft is posted on the TREWG Resources page
 http://www.ortelehealth.org/content/trewg-resource-materials
<http://www.ortelehealth.org/content/trewg-resource-materials>
as LC 918.

Please feel free to pass this message along to others you think might be
interested in commenting.

Kind regards,
Cathy

-- 
Catherine S. Britain, Program Director
Telehealth Alliance of Oregon
csbritain at gmail.com
541-910-7366
www.ortelehealth.org
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