Mend: The Leading Patient Engagement and Integrated Telehealth Platform

Care management is part of the triple aim to provide a coordinated, team approach to help patients manage medical conditions and chronic illness more effectively. Care management is an effort to control the cost of care while improving outcomes.

Telehealth nursing can encompass several different scenarios like triaging symptoms of a patient, collecting important health information prior to seeing a doctor, or Nurse Practitioners can diagnose and treat using Telehealth.

Yes, you can get a prescription through telemedicine. If you are seeing a random doctor without a prior patient to physician relationship, the prescription may only be prescribed in a small quantity. However, your own doctor can prescribe through telemedicine, in-person, or over the phone.

Teleradiology is a form of asynchronous, or store-and-forward, telemedicine where a remote physician is reviewing imaging remotely. Examples of Teleradiology images include x-rays, MRIs, CT, and other types of imaging. Remote physicians provide a full assessment and diagnosis electronically back to the referring physician caring directly for the patient.

Virtual healthcare encompasses many different types of remote care like telemedicine, telehealth, remote patient monitoring, secure messaging, digital forms, patient self-scheduling, check-in, and more. Any care delivered remotely utilizing a digital medium can be considered virtual healthcare.

Text messaging, email, Telehealth, digital forms, online scheduling and more have been shown to increase patient engagement. The convenience of new digital health tools are being used by innovative organizations to increase patient engagement. The use of digital tools during the pandemic created mass adoption making patients comfortable with new forms of patient engagement. Mend is the #1 Patient Engagement Platform.

Patient engagement is fundamental to maximizing outcomes in care. Patient engagement drives practice productivity and patient attendance which drives revenue. Text messaging is important to drive patient engagement as 97% of text messages are read within 3 minutes. Other tactics include email, Telehealth, reminder sequences, digital forms, and more. Mend is the #1 Patient engagement tool in the U.S.

Teledermatology is a combination of store and forward, or asynchronous, and audio visual telemedicine. Store and forward Teledermatology is usually a form of secure messaging that includes descriptions of symptoms, vitals, and other important information in combination with photos or other diagnostics. Audio visual Teledermatology is a live encounter with a provider and the exchange of similar information about the condition for diagnosis and treatment. Mend is the leading Teledermatology provider for the United States.

The most common version of Skype (free version) that most of us are familiar with is not HIPAA or HITECH compliant. Skype is a secure application; however, under HIPAA a Business Associates Agreement is also required between the vendor and the covered entity to be fully compliant. Microsoft does offer versions of Skype (business) and Teams with a BAA making it fully HIPAA compliant, but the workflows may not be conducive to a medical encounter where the patient is at home.

Virtual care encompasses many different types of remote care like telemedicine, telehealth, remote patient monitoring, secure messaging, digital forms, patient self-scheduling, and more. Any care delivered remotely utilizing a digital medium can be considered virtual care. Mend is the leading virtual care and in-office platform in the U.S.

Telepsychiatry is the psychiatric assessment and treatment via live audio visual telemedicine technology in combination with digital clinical assessments and other medical information. Telepsychiatry spans both inpatient and outpatient care via one-on-one consultations and group therapy. Telepsychiatry increases access to care, reduces stigma, improves outcomes, and reduces delays in care. The Mend platform specializes in Telepsychiatry for providers.

Telehealth encompasses all aspects of virtual healthcare like treating patients, education, remote monitoring, and more. Telemedicine is a category of Telehealth involving the diagnosis and treatment of patients.

Telemedicine reimbursement rates are usually equivalent to the in-person rates unless a payer contract specifies otherwise. Patient co-pays can be collected and there are approximately 240 different codes available for reimbursement if provided via telehealth. If a qualifying originating site is hosting a patient being seen remotely, code Q3014 can be billed as an originating site fee. When we mention that physicians will receive payment when patients do not have any physical interaction with them, then this means they must abide by certain guidelines such as billing appropriately for these interactions through appropriate coding like “Q3014” which stands for “originating site fee." COVID-19 has led to an expansion of telehealth services for patients in need. The federal government, state Medicaid programs, and private insurers have increased coverage so that more Americans can receive care from a doctor over the internet or phone without leaving their home.

Telemedicine has many benefits over in person visits including providing convenient care, leveraging innovative technology, and reducing cost. Telemedicine has numerous advantages for both patients and healthcare providers. Patients like the convenience and increased access to care while staying in the comfort of their own home without travel. Providers like that it reduces costs and no-shows, while providing more work-life balance.

Teletherapy is a psychiatric service that provides support and counseling to individuals in their home or somewhere accessible by device. More specifically, the service can be offered as an app that people can carry with them on a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or desktop computer. With teletherapy, practitioners often work with patients over video sessions on a secure platform like Mend. It is important that Teletherapy is done through a HIPAA compliant platform to ensure privacy, confidentiality, and data security. Utilizing a HIPAA compliant platform is also an important requirement if patients want to utilize their health insurance benefits.

Telemedicine is becoming the norm in healthcare, and for good reason. Through telemedicine, patients can see doctors from anywhere via their desktop computers, tablets, or smartphones. There are a variety of benefits to this type of practice, including cost-effectiveness and healthcare savings by engaging patients who typically don't seek care because they can't afford it or because they have difficulty getting to a doctor's office. In addition, telemedicine has great potential to increase access and reduce travel time for rural communities. The most common drawback is some patients lack access to high-speed, broadband Internet. Mend has the best connectivity rates in the industry to help overcome this problem.

HIPAA compliant Telehealth requires both security and encryption to protect patient healthcare information as well as a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) between the covered entity and the Business Associate (i.e. the software vendor). Telehealth software vendors should be HIPAA and HITECH compliant with SOC 2, Type 2 certification based on HITRUST standards.

The future of healthcare will depend on value-based care and expanding patient access. Telemedicine helps providers run more efficient practices, cutting down on waste and increasing patient satisfaction. Agile, flexible care with telemedicine can help improve outcomes, lower no-shows and cancelled visits, and even lower infection risks.

Telemedicine has many benefits for doctors including a more flexible schedule, continuity of care, improved outcomes, more frequent chronic care management, and better care coordination between providers. Other benefits for doctors include efficiency, patient retention, reduced no-shows rates, new revenue, and more.

Telemedicine startup costs include software licensing, staff time to plan, develop new protocols/SOPs & implement integration fees, legal & compliance costs, training time, physical space setup & any new equipment purchases, marketing expenses, and ongoing support for the program. For larger organizations, telemedicine start-up costs include dedicated hires for Telehealth leadership, patient workflow management, and ongoing continuous improvement of the telemedicine program.

Telehealth is important because it increases access to care, improves the experience for both patients and providers, and can reduce risks associated with infectious disease. Telehealth is important to patients through increased access especially in rural areas, convenience, transportation challenges, improved after-hours care, and remaining in the comfort of their home, safely away from transmissible diseases. Providers feel Telehealth is important because it reduces no-shows and cancellations, expands the geographical reach, reduces overhead, expedites care, helps attract and retain other providers, makes it easier to expand hours and provide after hours care.

Telehealth allows a patient, provider, and/or staff member to communicate securely using audio/video technology on any device that protects a patient's privacy under HIPAA. In some instances telehealth can occur by phone call. Asynchronous telehealth can happen over secure messaging or when a doctor is remotely reviewing a diagnostic lab and sending results back to the consulting physician.

Telemedicine reimbursement rates are usually equivalent to the in-person rates unless a payer contract specifies otherwise. Patient co-pays can be collected and there are approximately 240 different codes available for reimbursement if provided via telehealth. If a qualifying originating site is hosting a patient being seen remotely, code Q3014 can be billed as an originating site fee.