On Monday, UnitedHealthcare announced plans to launch a telemedicine project designed to improve health care access for rural Colorado residents, the Denver Business Journal reports.
For its Connected Care program, the insurance company will partner with the state and the Colorado hospital system Centura Health (Denver Business Journal, 8/17).
UnitedHealthcare will contribute about $2 million for the program, while Centura Health will provide physicians for the virtual consultations.
Remote Diagnosis
Each telehealth center will employ an on-site nurse to take digital images of a patient's skin, ears, nose, throat and other body parts (Brown, Denver Post, 8/18). The attendant also can use blood pressure cuffs, stethoscopes and other tools to transmit additional patient data to a remote physician (Goedert, Health Data Management, 8/17).
The physician will have the ability to access a patient's electronic health records. After a virtual consultation, the physician can diagnose the patient through a two-way video.
Payments and Reimbursements
Observers say Connected Care is unique because an insurance company organized the initiative. Many earlier telehealth projects encountered obstacles when insurers refused to provide physician reimbursement for virtual office visits.
In contrast, UnitedHealthcare members who use the Connected Care clinics will pay the same copayment as they would for an in-person specialist visit.
People covered by Medicaid, Medicare or other insurance plans also can use the telehealth services, but Centura will seek reimbursement from the programs and health plans, said Gary Campbell, president of Centura (Denver Post, 8/18).
Pilot Program
Officials have yet to select the four rural communities for Connected Care's pilot program, which aims to treat 4,800 people annually (Paulson, AP/Colorado Springs Gazette, 8/17).
The pilot initially will target underserved specialties, including cardiology, dermatology, pulmonology and others.
UnitedHealthcare is scheduled to begin implementing the Connected Care pilot project in early 2010 (Health Data Management, 8/17).