InTouch Health Applauds Groundbreaking Telehealth Legislation

SANTA BARBARA, Calif., Feb. 9, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- InTouch Health, the leading enterprise telehealth platform and the market leader in telestroke care, today celebrates a major policy win for the telemedicine industry. Early today, Congress passed legislation expanding Medicare reimbursement for telestroke services, one of several provisions included in the Chronic Care Act [S. 870 (115)].

"This legislation represents the first time physician payment has been enabled for the broad Medicare population and, we believe, marks the beginning of a shift in policy supportive of telehealth as a means to improve access and lower cost. We and our partners have worked hard for these changes, which will remove originating site requirements for telestroke services, expanding access to life-saving telehealth technology to 40 million previously unserved Medicare beneficiaries," said Joseph M. DeVivo, CEO of InTouch Health. "Moving forward, victims of the 550,000 strokes that occur among the Medicare population in urban settings each year will have a better chance of survival through more immediate access to specialists regardless of where they live."

This groundbreaking legislation – which also enables patients receiving home dialysis to check-in with their doctors remotely; Medicare Advantage plans to offer expanded coverage for telehealth services; and Accountable Care Organizations to have more flexibility to use telemedicine – is a promising indication of growing bipartisan support of telemedicine as a critical solution for the healthcare cost and delivery challenges that have plagued the country. InTouch Health will continue to advocate for healthcare legislation which harnesses the power of telehealth technology and digital innovation to save lives, reduce cost and dramatically improve health outcomes in the U.S.

About InTouch Health
InTouch Health, the 2018 Best in KLAS Category Leader for Virtual Care Platforms, provides its world class, 24/7 monitored InTouch Telehealth Network, comprised of regulated telehealth systems, clinical workflow solutions and software, and managed services to hospitals and healthcare systems for the delivery of clinical care, anytime, anywhere. Today, InTouch Health supports more than 130 healthcare systems, 7,700 registered network users and 1,780 care locations around the world as they deploy telehealth programs across their enterprises. InTouch Health has surpassed 1.68 million network sessions, which includes 940,000 telehealth virtual care sessions over the InTouch Telehealth Network, and is forecasted to manage more than 300,000 clinical sessions in the next year.  To learn more, please visit: www.intouchhealth.com

SOURCE InTouch Health