Continued telehealth coverage a must

PBN SUMMIT | HEALTH CARE

Panelists argue continued telehealth coverage a must

BY ALEXA GAGOSZ | Gagosz@PBN.com

WHILE TELEHEALTH HAS been critical for providers to check in on many of their patients during the pandemic, Marie L. Ganim, R.I. health insurance commissioner, says it’s been “a lifesaver” that has improved attendance and lowered no-show rates for those seeking mental health care virtually.

“Our behavioral health crisis in Rhode Island is almost just as concerning as our COVID-19 crisis in Rhode Island,” Ganim said during PBN’s virtual Health Care Summit on Oct. 29. “And it has gotten worse with the [COVID-19] crisis. These two things are related.”

Ganim said there’s been a spike in visits and success in connecting patients with their providers.

“Telemedicine made up for the early loss of in-person care,” said Ganim. “And providers are telling us that they can successfully provide care.”

Ganim was one of several panelists at the summit who made the case for continuing insurance coverage of telemedicine, even after the coronavirus crisis has passed. Joining Ganim in the event’s first panel discussion was Dr. James E. Fanale, CEO and president of Care New England Health System; Dr. Alan Kurose, Coastal Medical Inc. CEO; and Dr. Kenneth Wood, Lifespan Corp. executive vice president and chief clinical officer.

Many of the speakers echoed Ganim’s sentiments: that telemedicine efforts by providers, which have been conducted by both videocon-

‘It’s essential that we stay connected with patients.’

DR. ALAN KUROSE, Coastal Medical Inc. CEO

ferencing and by phone, have made up much of the care in some health systems in Rhode Island for the last eight months.

Kurose said that 54% of the encounters at Coastal Medical have been conducted by telehealth while 46% have been face to face.

“We can’t go much [more] above [46%],” he said, citing the high prevalence of the coronavirus in Rhode Island as cases continue to climb, with the positive test rate edging above 5% and the need to develop socially distanced floor plans in offices.

Prior to the pandemic, Coastal was not conducting videoconference visits but had planned to do so. Within two weeks of the coronavirus hitting Rhode Island, Kurose said the system was conducting 500 videoconferences per day.

“It’s essential that we stay connected with patients during this period of time,” said Kurose. “I think the patient that is most at risk is the one who is isolated.”

Tufts Health Plan expanded telehealth services to children and adolescents, which “has been critical,” according to Dr. Claire Levesque, Tufts chief medical officer who participated in the summit’s second panel discussion. As anxiety and de-

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pression levels have heightened, telemedicine could be used more for treatment in behavior health.

“All of us – as human beings – will experience depression at some point in our lifetimes,” said Dr. Matt Collins, chief medical officer at Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island, who was part of the second panel. Collins suggested that employers should be asking more mental health-related questions to employees as they continue to work from home. “It’s not ‘How are you doing,’ it’s ‘How are you holding up?’ It recognizes the challenges.”

Collins suggested making mental health discussions normal, creating flexible work hours and being tolerant of different ways work gets done as employees have children learning virtually at home and may be helping with elderly family members under the same roof.

The panelists noted these challenges for people working from home could lead to the need for more-accessible mental health care, such as through telehealth.

“[The behavioral health side] is a different set of lessons in that environment than in the primary care environment or the facility environment,” said Ganim, who said behavioral health coverage should be looked at separately, such as with costsharing issues with insurance companies and what is clinically appropriate for treatment over phone calls or the use of videoconferencing tools. She said insurers would say that payment-parity would make sense.

SEE TELEHEALTH

PAGE 22 MAKING THEIR CASE: The panel in the first part of PBN’s Health Care Summit gives glowing reviews of how telemedicine has aided the health care system during the pandemic. The panel included, clockwise from top left, Dr. James E. Fanale, from Care New England Health System; Dr. Kenneth Wood, from Lifespan Corp.; Dr. Alan Kurose, from Coastal Medical Inc.; and Marie L. Ganim, R.I. health insurance commissioner.

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