Participation in health information exchange (HIE) has reached approximately 35%, and just about half of all surveyed providers expect to be using telehealth services within three years. One third of behavioral health providers already use telehealth to connect patients with services, and another third plan to implement the technology before 2015.
Although 54% of Virginia hospitals use some telehealth technology, small practice physicians showed reluctance to embrace remote healthcare, with only 17% indicating current use, and 30% expressing “uncertainty” about their future plans. While Virginia is ahead of the national average of 42% for hospital telehealth adoption, it lags behind the rest of the nation (27%) in small practice use.
These advances are made possible by broadband speeds well ahead of the national average of 6.6 Mbps. Virginia boasts an 8.3 Mbps average download speed, which places the state 8th in the country. Nearly one quarter of healthcare organizations have rates of at least 10 Mbps, which places Virginia 10th in the nation, behind such smaller states as Massachusetts, Delaware, and New Jersey.
The survey also notes that Virginia ranks fourth in EHR adoption among hospitals. The average Virginia hospital has reached at least Stage 4 on the HIMSS Analytics EMR Adoption Scale, besting the national average by one whole stage. “Commonwealth hospitals continue to lead in the region and nationally in the deployment of key EMR-related capabilities, including CPOE and Clinical Decision Support,” the survey acknowledges.
Common barriers to telehealth include limited reimbursement for infrastructure investments, licensure and credentialing, confidentiality and HIPAA compliance issues, as well as integration with EHR systems and federal and state policy alignments. But the CIT envisions these obstacles becoming a thing of the past as organizations embrace IT connectivity. “These barriers, however, are diminishing as telehealth continues to improve patient access and outcomes, address workforce shortages and reduce healthcare costs.”
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Jennifer Bresnick
Quelle/Source: EHRIntelligence, 01.02.2013
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