The top three concerns for health professionals in the Pacific Northwest are staffing levels, provider/staff burnout, and rising healthcare costs, according to a recent study.     Schwabe and The Business Journals surveyed healthcare professionals to get a better understanding of the state of the industry, both now and in the future, and provide key … Read more

Industry leaders discussed options for improving stroke care and how strokes are impacting Hawaiians during a community education webinar on Saturday.     The Hawaii Stroke Coalition hosted the event, which featured local data presented by doctors and advice on healthy post-stroke living from a stroke survivor who has become a competitive athlete. Strokes are … Read more

In this edition of our “What They’re Watching” series, Crystal Wong, MD, Associate Chief Digital Health Officer at University of Washington (UW) Medicine, discussed UW’s efforts to boost its digital footprint. That includes increased development of its direct patient service delivery, telemedicine programs, and virtual care services, she said.  UW is also focused on improving … Read more

Alaska health care providers are increasingly collaborating with their counterparts from the lower 48 states, particularly in Washington, on patient care. Doctors from both states discussed that process during the 2022 Alaska State of Reform Health Policy Conference.     Dr. Jack Sedwick, Otolaryngology Specialist at Alyeska Center for Facial Plastic Surgery & ENT, said … Read more

Bills concerning telemedicine and health care services for minors advanced in the Michigan Legislature last week.     Senate Bill 1135, sponsored by Sen. Mike MacDonald (R – Macomb Township), would require telemedicine services to be covered under the medical assistance program and Healthy Michigan Program (HMP) if those services were provided at or contracted … Read more

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) presented on Tuesday an update on its implementation of House Bill 4, which requires the agency to deliver more telehealth and telemedicine services on a permanent and cost-effective basis.      After engaging stakeholders for most of 2022, HHSC posted in July a draft of its Medicaid … Read more

A big thank you to our Convening Panel members who recently came together to discuss the issues, speakers, and topics that will form the agenda for the 2022 Alaska State of Reform Health Policy Conference. We’re getting close to finalizing our Topical Agenda, which we will release in just a few weeks! In this edition of “5 Things We’re … Read more

Dr. Susan Emmett is an otolaryngologist and public health-trained researcher who leads the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ (UAMS) Center for Hearing Health Equity. She led a UAMS study focused on school-based hearing screening programs in rural Alaska that showed that referring kids to specialists via telemedicine provided significantly quicker access to follow-up care … Read more

Dr. Helen Hughes is the associate medical director for Johns Hopkins Medicine’s Office of Telemedicine and the medical director of Pediatric Telemedicine for Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.  In this Q&A Hughes offers an update on her office’s work in the telemedicine space, the impacts of the pandemic’s resurgence, and challenges facing telemedicine moving forward.   … Read more