Telehealth

How Payers Can Reduce Emergency Department Admission Rates, Costs

August 9, 2023 - Members and payers do not always see eye-to-eye, but one point on which they closely align is their desire for members to stay out of the emergency department. Emergency department visits are associated with higher healthcare spending. A single trip to the emergency room costs $2,453, on average, under a large employer-sponsored health plan. The out-of-pocket costs can range from $128...


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Private Payers Reimbursed Telehealth, In-Person Care Equally in 2020

by Kelsey Waddill

In 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic forced a major shift to telehealth and virtual care, private payers were reimbursed for telehealth and in-person care equally, research from Peterson-Kaiser Family...

Top Predictions for Health Insurers, Employers in the New Year

by Kelsey Waddill

Health insurers and employers face a challenging landscape in 2023, but these obstacles are accompanied by opportunities for growth, according to experts’ top predictions. Three years after the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic...

Payer Sees Significant Mental Healthcare Utilization, Network Size Growth

by Kelsey Waddill

Mental healthcare services utilization and network size have grown significantly since 2019 among Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (“Blue Cross”) members, according to data from Blue...

BCBS Health Plan Expands Medicare Advantage Drug, Mental Health Benefits

by Kelsey Waddill

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (Blue Cross) introduced prescription drug benefits and mental healthcare benefits to its preferred provider organization (PPO) and health maintenance...

Payers Leverage Technology to Boost Maternal Health Outcomes

by Sarai Rodriguez

Payers are implementing new programs that capitalize on telehealth and partnerships with technology companies to better engage pregnant members and improve maternal health outcomes. There has been an...

7 Ways That Payers Help Members Manage Their Mental Health Needs

by Kelsey Waddill

As the nation continues to experience a mental health crisis, health insurers have developed numerous strategies to help members manage their mental health needs, according to a resource from...

UHG Data Shows Impact of Telehealth on Outpatient Behavioral Health

by Kelsey Waddill

Telehealth flexibilities during the coronavirus pandemic contributed to a 26 percent spike in overall utilization of in-network outpatient behavioral health, according to a report from UnitedHealth...

Payer Recognized for Health Equity, Social Determinants of Health Efforts

by Kelsey Waddill

Health Net has been recognized in an Institute for Medicaid Innovation (IMI) report for the payer’s work in health equity, along with various other stakeholders that have made progress on...

Telehealth Waiver Boosted Care Access for Medicare Beneficiaries

by Victoria Bailey

The CMS telehealth waiver that expanded coverage for virtual care services during the COVID-19 pandemic helped increase access to virtual care for Medicare beneficiaries in disadvantaged neighborhoods,...

UHC Introduces Employer-Sponsored, Virtual Care Physical Therapy

by Kelsey Waddill

UnitedHealthcare is introducing access to virtual care physical therapy for members in employer-sponsored health plans who suffer from musculoskeletal issues, according to an emailed press...

CQMC Finds Quality Measurement Gaps, Supports Digital Measures

by Kelsey Waddill

Members of the Core Quality Measures Collaborative (CQMC), including AHIP, have identified multiple quality measurement gaps and recommended new digital quality measures and health equity quality...

Securing Temporary Public Payer Policies Following the PHE

by Victoria Bailey

As the public health emergency (PHE) nears an end, policymakers must consider expanding temporary public payer policies that improve person-centered care for beneficiaries, including telehealth and...

Trends in Medicare Advantage 2022 Open Enrollment Offerings

by Kelsey Waddill

Medicare Advantage has seen a lot of growth in recent years and that trend is set to continue into 2022, as evident in the number of plan offerings for the Medicare Advantage 2022 open enrollment...

More Employers Turn to Employer-Sponsored Primary Care Clinics

by Kelsey Waddill

Employer-sponsored primary care clinics are a steadily growing trend among large employers and one that experts anticipate to persist as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a study...

Survey Shows COVID-19 Toll on Senior Mental Health, Social Health

by Kelsey Waddill

From the beginning, it was clear that seniors’ lives would be turned upside down as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, but Humana’s survey of over 1,000 seniors reveal the severe toll...

How Payers Can Cultivate Consumer-Centered Digital Innovation

by Kelsey Waddill

With the dawn of the virtual-first health plan and continued increases in healthcare consumerism, payers have found themselves in an age of consumer-centered digital innovation. Healthcare revenue...

How Payers Can Launch a Virtual-First Health Plan

by Kelsey Waddill

E-triage, telemental and telebehavioral healthcare tools, e-prescribing, virtual urgent care—in one year, these digital healthcare tools and many more transformed from somewhat obscure, non-integrated technologies to nearly...

Value-Based Care Challenges, Opportunities for Payers in 2021

by Kelsey Waddill

As payers continue to manage the coronavirus pandemic in 2021, this unique period in history presents alternative payment model and value-based care challenges and opportunities that are beginning to...