50: Percent increase in Teladoc patient visits in the past week alone, up to 15,000 patients a day, with more than half considered ‘first time users’.
Channel 5: A physician in the north shore of Massachusetts is starting to do a daily exercise show with his ‘fitness teacher’ bride on the local access TV channel to help Medicare seniors. He’ll run on the treadmill, show seniors at-home exercises, talk pillboxes, and discuss medication adherence issues. In one ‘scene’ from a pilot episode, the doctor shared an example of how NOT to take your medications. “Don’t eat them with peanut butter for example…” he showed, chewing crunchy Jiffy. “It may mean you won’t get your medicines.”
Psych Fill-in: inovaTel, a telepsych business, is working with clinics and physician groups to help them provide tele services, particularly since nursing and PA staff are having to stay home to care for sick loved ones.
Cologuard Rise: CVS is now offering five new digital health platforms to help with everything from blood pressure management to musculoskeletal care. An Aetna source tells us they have been trying to reshape primary care via the CVS clinics—expect to see an uptick in Cologuard test use, given recent cancelling of colonoscopies.
Precision Medicine: Henry Ford Health System just got a big paycheck for $25M to ultimately create a Precision Medicine Center focusing on cancer, behavioral health, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.
Appetizer: Anthem is now working to provide access on its Sydney Mobile app for members at no cost to help assess their own coronavirus risk and symptoms. Based on the results, Anthem members will be able to connect directly to a board-certified doctor via text or secure two-way video via the app who can then recommend care options.
Homeless Fix: Kaiser Permanente of California has pledged $1 million toward efforts to prevent and treat coronavirus cases among the nation's homeless population. California, Seattle, and Portland account for nearly half of all coronavirus cases in the U.S. and have some of the largest homeless populations in the country.
Closing the Loop: A new artificial intelligence platform, hosted by ClosedLoop.ai, will attempt to help a managed care organization in Illinois better flag those members that may be at higher risk of coronavirus, focused on social determinants of health that will make it hard for these managed care enrollees to access essential health services, such as testing and treatment.
Coronavirus Coding: The American Medical Association (AMA) Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Editorial Panel has approved a new, specific CPT code to describe laboratory testing for the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).
Survey Snapshot: Reports of underlying anxiety, obsessive-compulsive flare ups, and panic attacks are on the rise due to the coronavirus but the overall market response in adding telehealth quickly is helping to address this. Our survey, published this week, on the health system’s response is featured here.
Extra Point: Feels like a Stephen King science fiction story unfolding right about now, doesn’t it? But the thing is, we are seeing the best of people. Of kids and moms and nurses and cashiers who have very little, doing so much. All this healthcare innovation is only one piece of a puzzle, only one part of the selfless work going on behind the scenes in the last two days. In education circles, schools are trying to create miracles every hour. My wife is now my desk mate and is running a middle school for an inner-city population of middle school kids who are underserved, all Medicaid beneficiaries, in some cases without parents, limited in meals and access to technology and a safety net. Her teachers spend 6-7 hours a day talking on Zoom with the kids, teaching them about analogies and long division, helping them create an anatomy poster, listening to them read. Kids send back videos doing jumping jacks and on how to make mashed potatoes. Is it all educational? Maybe not. But it is engagement. These teachers are mostly volunteers, but this little school is one example of educators trying to engage during a crisis. It’s a great lesson for all of us in healthcare. Find the most vulnerable - give them a voice, teach, and make tomorrow better than today.