1. Website Who We Are HTRC Services Funding Billing & Reimbursement
October 2016
TELEHEALTH BEAT
HTRC's monthly telehealth bulletin
Greetings!
Heartland Telehealth Resource Center is here to meet your telehealth needs. We are a
federally funded organization serving Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma, with a wide range of
services, and many of them are free. Email us at questions@HeartlandTRC.org or call us at
877-643-HTRC.
KanTel meeting
Right: Kirsten Angell discusses telenutrition reimbursement at October KanTel meeting.
During the October meeting of KanTel, the board agreed to recommend to the Kansas
Behavioral Science and Regulatory Board that they consider expanding the use of
telesupervision in licensing mental health professionals. One of the licensing requirements of
mental health professionals is supervision by another licensed professional in the same field.
Since rural areas suffer from a shortage of mental health professionals, there may be no other
professional in the area to supervise. The travel required for supervision can be a major
barrier to licensing - one that could be mitigated by using telesupervision rather than or in
addition to in-person supervision. Other states, including Georgia, have added telesupervision
rules in an effort to help alleviate the shortage of mental health professionals.
In addition to the discussion on telesupervision, Kirsten Angell of the Western Kansas
Dietetic Association presented on telenutrition and the difficulties of reimbursement from
private payers in Kansas. According to Angell, the uncertainty over reimbursement has
slowed the uptake of telenutrition, which can help to reach remote patients who may not
otherwise receive the support they need to prevent costly chronic illnesses, including type 2
diabetes.
KanTel is an advisory board of telehealth experts and legislators working to improve
telehealth adoption in Kansas. Among their goals is telehealth parity, a state policy that would
insure that reimbursement for telehealth is equal to in-person reimbursement. For information
about how to join KanTel, please contact Janine Gracy at jgracy@KUMC.edu.
2. EVENTS
2016 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo
Denver, Co.
October 29 - November 2
The National Telehealth Resource Centers will again exhibit at this year's American Public
Health Association Annual Meeting and a pre-conference workshop entitled "Leveraging
telehealth technologies to extend the reach and effectiveness of public health practice," will
be led by Kathy Wibberly, director of the Mid-Atlantic Telehealth Resource Center.
EHealth Revolution: Then, Now, and the Future
Conference
Oklahoma City, Okla.
November 1
Sponsored by the Telehealth Alliance of Oklahoma and HIMSS, Oklahoma's only telehealth
conference is November 1 in Oklahoma City. Learn from industry experts as they share
information about telehealth and ethics, mobile device security, engaging the participant and
more.
Hear speakers share their experiences with direct-to-consumer and virtual health as they
weigh both the costs and the benefits of consumer-driven healthcare. Take home skills on
how to effectively communicate with patients about telehealth and how it can best serve
them. Stay in the know about current privacy and security legal framework for mobile devices,
as well as the best practices and strategies for safeguarding information.
Prepare yourself, your practice, and your patients for the latest innovative healthcare
technology set to improve access and options of care, Register today!
The cost is only $47 and includes lunch and access to all of the general conference
sessions.
Missouri Telehealth Network Training Conference
Columbia, Mo.
November 9 - 10
Missouri Telehealth Network provides formal and informal training to new and existing
members of the network. This training offers a thorough overview of telehealth including:
How to use telehealth devices and trouble-shoot equipment problems
Public and private policies impacting telehealth, billing requirements, JCAHO
standards and HIPAA regulations
Clinical, administrative and educational applications of telehealth
Telehealth use in specialties and other programs such as Show-Me ECHO.
Telehealth workshop for Indian Health, Tribal, and
Urban Indian Health
Kansas City, Mo.
November 30 - December 1
Sponsored by the Health Resources and Services Administration, this workshop will provide
an introduction to telehealth and cover challenges and barriers; telehealth program
sustainability and business models; and best practices.
3. ECHO Immersion Training
Columbia, Mo.
February 28 - March 1, 2017
Ready to implement your own ECHO program? In February, the
Missouri Telehealth Network will host a two day, in-person ECHO
Immersion Training which will offer a general overview of Project ECHO
and dive deeper into the ECHO model. The training will focus on next
steps for implementation including participation in an ECHO
clinic. Through immersion, participants will develop an ongoing
relationship with the Show-Me ECHO replication team and other ECHO staff members, who
will assist in setting up ECHO clinics. It is also a great opportunity to engage with other
organizations interested in ECHO. If your organization is ready to replicate ECHO, please
contact Lindsey Beckmann at beckmannli@health.missouri.com or by phone at (573) 884-
3753.
MORE EVENTS
REGIONAL NEWS
HTRC says "goodbye" to
Oklahoma director
Though HTRC Oklahoma Director Cynthia Scheideman-
Miller has moved on to new endeavors, her telehealth
legacy in Oklahoma won't soon be forgotten. Cynthia has
been a dedicated telehealth advocate in the state of
Oklahoma for over 20 years. In addition to her years of
service to HTRC, Cynthia served as Executive Director
of the Telehealth Alliance of Oklahoma and she will be
sorely missed.
Cynthia will continue to spread the good word about
telehealth with a new position in California. We wish her the best and look forward to hearing
about her new adventures in telehealth!
A new Kansas partnership hopes to improve access
to care in rural Kansas
Last month, the University of Kansas Hospital announced a partnership with Hays Medical
Center (HaysMed). Although the two hospitals have worked together several times previously,
this is the first time they have signed a letter of intent to form an official partnership.
This new partnership will benefit both organizations in several ways. Hays Medical Center will
be able to provide a greater range of healthcare services and resources to its patients, and
the University of Kansas Hospital will be able to better reach rural patients in Western regions
of the state.
One aspect the two hospitals are currently partnering on is telemedicine. KU Hospital uses
telemedicine to assist with the heart and stroke programs at Hays Medical Center. A
spokesman for KU hospital said the two organizations plan on exploring additional uses for
telemedicine once the official partnership is in place.
According to KU Hospital CEO, Bob Page, the partnership is being implemented with patients
in mind.
"It's about our folks and their folks coming together with one goal in mind. We're two
organizations coming together to improve the health of Kansans," Page explained during a
news conference following the announcement.
4. NATIONAL NEWS
Skilled nursing facilities soon eligible for Universal
Service Fund
In June President Obama signed legislation that added skilled nursing facilities (SNF) to the
Rural Health Care Program (RHC) as an eligible healthcare provider. This means that SNFs
can begin applying for funding from the Universal Service Fund on January 1, 2017. Among
other things, the program helps subsidizes Internet access to make telehealth services more
affordable and comparable to the cost of urban counterparts.
For more information, please contact HTRC at 877-643-HTRC.
Project ECHO
Project ECHO is a program using telemedicine to revolutionize medical
education and improve access to specialty care. Project
ECHO, which was developed by the University of New
Mexico School of Medicine, works by connecting primary
care clinicians with specialist teams via videoconference.
Each specialty area has its own ECHO, such as autism or
chronic pain. ECHO teams meet regularly to hear cases
from providers and make recommendations.
Learn more
Register for a Missouri Show-Me ECHO clinic
Heartland Telehealth Resource Center | questions@HeartlandTRC.org |
4330 Shawnee Mission Parkway Fairway, KS 66205