[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Over 750 women in Illinois died while pregnant or within a year of pregnancy between 2008 and 2017. In response, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) pointed to telehealth as one of several key recommendations to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity.
IDPH’s
Illinois Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Report says, “health insurance plans, including Illinois Medicaid, should reimburse for telehealth, including phone-based services, regardless of patient or provider location.” The Coalition to Protect Telehealth emphatically agrees with this recommendation. Without legislative action from the Illinois General Assembly, Illinois residents will abruptly lose access to the telehealth services they have relied on during the pandemic.
Capitol Fax com - Your Illinois News Radar » Coalition To Protect Telehealth White Paper: Telehealth Addresses Health Equity capitolfax.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from capitolfax.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Visiting a healthcare professional can be consequential: Cancer is diagnosed, patients are supported as they manage chronic conditions, and services and treatment are delivered to support mental health. During the pandemic, accessing healthcare in person was difficult, especially early on when non-emergent care was put on hold.
Telehealth saved the day, offering a safe option for Illinoisans to continue needed care. A recent editorial in the Chicago Tribune identified telehealth as one of a handful of pandemic-related changes that caused “the public and elected officials to reconsider some of the laws and regulations that had long been taken for granted.” Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers all began fairly reimbursing healthcare professionals for telehealth visits recognition of telehealth’s integral role in healthcare.
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
The COVID-19 pandemic created many challenges for healthcare providers, including how to safely care for patients with chronic conditions, behavioral health needs and other health concerns. Telehealth once considered the future of healthcare emerged as a clear solution.
Early in the pandemic, Governor Pritzker and the Department of Healthcare and Family Services temporarily lifted longstanding barriers to telehealth for commercial health plans and Medicaid. In response, healthcare providers rapidly invested in new technology, adjusted clinical workflows, and educated staff, patients and clinicians on telehealth delivery.
Last April, only 1% of Medicare fee-for-service primary care visits in Illinois were telehealth visits. By July, nearly 47% of those visits were telehealth visits. All demographics young, diverse, rural and more have used telehealth. Patients like the flexibility telehealth offers, which is why it’s so crucial telehealth
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
The power of telehealth to save lives was on full display the night Garrett Graham looked over at his wife to find she just had a stroke.
The frightening moments that followed took Garrett and Brenda Graham from Shelbyville High School, where they were watching a volleyball game, to HSHS Good Shepherd Hospital in Shelbyville and, ultimately, HSHS St. John’s Hospital in Springfield.
A telehealth call between a physician at HSHS Good Shepherd and a neurosurgeon at HSHS St. John’s saved precious minutes. Brenda Garrett, then paralyzed on the left side of her body, was airlifted to HSHS St. John’s for treatment.