Five Ways Telemedicine Can Boost Care in Rural Communities by Michelle McNickle

The number of telemedical tools available is growing, increasing quality of care and decreasing delivery times. Shahid Shah, software analyst and author of the blog Healthcare IT Guy, gives us the five ways telemedicine is currently boosting care in rural communities.  

1.Web meetings and online video tools bring expert caregivers anywhere.

2.Telemedical devices for remote monitoring of in-home care improve clinical observations.

3.Mobile imaging and lab specimen collections with remote reading and web-based report distribution improve diagnostics.

4.Behavioral health, mental health, and related care are made more accessible.

5.Online community-building tools allow populated city citizens to interact with their rural peers.

Read more>>>

Kaiser Issues New Resources on Adolescent Health

 The Kaiser Family Foundation has released two new resources that review the health risks facing adolescents today, their access to health services and federal and state policies that affect health services for adolescents. The Foundation released a new issue brief on adolescent health and a new issue module on its website geared to public policy students and faculty.

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, many teens in the U.S. have health risk factors:

Nearly 40% of male high school students have been in a physical fight in the past 12 months; and 27% have carried a weapon in the past 30 days, including 10% who carried a gun

 
Twelve percent of high school students (15% of males and 8% of females) are classified as obese based on their Body Mass Index (BMI)

Thirty-four percent of high school students (36% of females, 32% of males) say they have had sexual intercourse in the past 3 months; and among these teens, 46% of females and 31% of males reported they did not use a condom in their last sexual encounter

There are multiple initiatives under way to improve future health outcomes for teens, such as development of more teen-friendly health settings and initiatives to train providers to address the special health issues that arise for adolescents. The implementation of the new health reform law will also affect coverage and access to care for many teens.

The issue brief Adolescent Health:Coverage And Access to Care and the KaiserEDU Issue Module on Adolescent Health are available online.

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Medicare Covers Screening and Counseling for Alcohol Misuse and Screening for Depression

 The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced two new national coverage determinations that cover alcohol misuse screening and behavioral counseling for Medicare beneficiaries as well as screening for depression. These new coverage policies add to the existing portfolio of covered preventive services, most of which are now available to people with Medicare at no additional cost.

"These new coverage policies address important issues related to mental health and prevention of substance abuse," said Patrick Conway, MD, CMS chief medical officer and director of   the agency's Office of Clinical Standards and Quality. "We at CMS continue to carefully and systematically review the best available medical evidence to identify those preventive services that can keep Medicare beneficiaries as healthy as possible for as long as possible."

The coverage decision on alcohol misuse screening is online at http://www.cms.gov/medicare-coverage-database/details/nca-decision-memo.aspx?NCAId=249 and the decision on depression screening is online at http://www.cms.gov/medicare-coverage-database/details/nca-decision-memo.aspx?NCAId=251 

Source: CMS

New PSA Recognizes Women Veterans

She Wore These: It's our job to give her the best care anywhere

VA is taking its internal culture change message public with a new video about the vital role women play in the U.S. Military and the importance of providing women Veterans with high quality health care.

This public service announcement (PSA) challenges viewers to rethink preconceived notions about women Veterans. The PSA was developed from a new employee orientation video created as part of VA's ongoing efforts to change its culture to be more understanding and accommodating of women Veterans and the important service they have given our country.

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