Changes in the health care reimbursement system are needed to spur more doctors to adopt mobile health devices and telehealth technology, health IT experts said Wednesday at an Institute for e-Health Policy panel discussion, Government Health IT reports.
The institute is part of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Foundation.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) noted that just $2 million of $400 billion in Medicare spending goes to telehealth reimbursement.
Although the new health reform law includes payment pilots and demonstration projects based on quality data, Wyden said comprehensive, long-term payment reform is necessary.
Dale Alverson -- president-elect of the American Telemedicine Association and medical director of the Center for Telehealth at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences -- described a New Mexico telemedicine program that helps health care providers remotely perform diabetes-related retina tests for rural patients to help prevent blindness. Alverson said providers are not reimbursed for the early detection program; however, patients would become eligible for disability benefits if they went blind.
Jane Sarasohn-Kahn, a health economist and management consultant with Think-Health, noted that about 75% of the $2.3 trillion spent on health each year is used to treat chronic conditions. She said, "Mobile health can really help us bend that cost curve," noting that many consumers already use inexpensive applications to "manage health and wellness, measure and track blood glucose levels and help people feel more engaged and empowered" (Mosquera, Government Health IT, 5/6).