Amazon Enters Telehealth Market; New Form of AI Mining EHRs for Insights

March 18, 2021 - Amazon was expected to disrupt healthcare through its partnership with JP Morgan and Berkshire Hathaway. As it ends up, the company is bringing new competition to a congested telehealth marketplace with its sights set on a nationwide rollout.

Amazon to Take Telehealth Platform Nationwide

The Washington-based retail giant announced that its Amazon Care service, until now limited to employees and their families in its home state, is now available for other Washington companies and that the platform will be expanded to Amazon employees and other companies throughout the country beginning this summer. Amazon unveiled the platform roughly 18 months ago, offering virtual care through an mHealth app and on-demand house calls for employees and their families in Washington.

“A lot of folks will look at this on the outside and not realize how extensively Amazon has been preparing for this moment by obsessively striving to serve their own people exquisitely well. In their iterative process, where fast failure is not just expected but encouraged, they have tried and failed as much — or more — than they've succeeded,” says Taqee Khaled, head of strategy and a healthcare consultant for the consulting firm Nerdery. READ MORE

RCM Automation Key to Reducing Days in A/R

In an increasingly complex healthcare environment, keeping track of how long it takes to collect healthcare revenue that a practice has billed but has yet to receive from payers and patients is key. RCM automation at Key-Whitman Eye Center in Texas helped to decrease aging accounts receivable by 38% by increasing staff efficiency and prioritizing queues.

“As we move forward in this healthcare environment, and specifically this insurance environment, we have a lot of plans that are becoming super narrow network plans or IPA-affiliated plans or ACO-affiliated plans, and the staffing required to administer or to see these patients is becoming, in my mind, a little too much,” maintains Matt Chapman, revenue cycle director. READ MORE

New Form of AI Assists Diagnostics and Testing Decisions

READ MORE: Preparing Healthcare CFOs for Business During a Biden Presidency

An artificial intelligence algorithm is able to mine EHR data and suggest the best diagnostic approaches. A team from the USC Viterbi School of Engineering worked to develop an AI algorithm that can learn and think like a doctor, but with essentially infinite experience. The new form of AI mines EHRs in databases to recommend optimal treatment strategies. The algorithm works just like a doctor. the new AI model seeks those tests that would most likely identify the correct illness or condition, no matter how obscure. The algorithm can also take into account the costs and delays associated with a range of diagnostic tests. READ MORE

Lobbying Group Seeks Vaccine IP Protections

PhRMA and over 30 leaders in the biopharmaceutical have warned the Biden Administration that eliminating intellectual property protections in COVID-19 vaccine development could undermine global response to the pandemic. The call follows an October 2020 decision on the part of India and South Africa to suspend IP provisions, including the protection and enforcement of copyrights, industrial designs, patents, and trade secrets on COVID-19 innovations until a widespread vaccine is in place. Eliminating those protections would undermine the global response to the pandemic, including ongoing efforts to tackle new variants, the organizations explained. READ MORE

Helping the Transgender Community Access Care

Nearly 1.4 million Americans identify as transgender and face significant challenges with healthcare coverage. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 20 percent of transgender individuals reported being uninsured at some point during 2017 to 2018. Payers and the healthcare system as a whole to listen more closely to the transgender community and act accordingly.

“Employing transgender people is important. Consulting with transgender people is important. And asking members and community members what's going to work for them is critical,” says Ani Koch, principal sustainability design consultant of population health at Blue Cross. READ MORE

Managing the Patient Experience

Practice or hospital leaders can use a variety of practice management tools such as patient portals, virtual waiting rooms, kiosks, real-time patient experience surveys, and price transparency tools to foster a seamless patient experience through the entire care encounter. PatientEngagementHIT looks at five specific tools that can assist in creating positive patient experiences: online appointment scheduling, virtual waiting rooms, check-in kiosks, real-time patient experience surveys, and price transparency. READ MORE

Key Considerations for Addressing Dual Eligibles

A new MACPAC report reveals that dual-eligible beneficiaries—individuals who are eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare benefits—still experience challenges navigating the two programs and would benefit from an integrated dual-eligible program. The MACPAC report proposes that Congress should address six key areas for integration: eligibility, beneficiary protections and enrollment, benefits, delivery system and care coordination, administration, and financing.

“In the Commission’s view, a unified program designed specifically for the dually eligible population has the potential to address the fragmentation and poor outcomes that result from having two uncoordinated programs,” the report concludes. READ MORE