Her advice to other states considering reimbursement is to decide up front what they want the program to do, then determine a specific delivery area and proper support services for administering it. Iowa got on the bandwagon last May, when the General Assembly authorized payment for telehome health services in hopes of reducing hospital and clinic visits in the state Indigent Patient Care Program. Patient surveys also point to the success of the Iowa program. Information for each patient is stored on an easily accessible database, allowing physicians or nurses to retrieve the records at any time and look at illness trends. The system also can track the effectiveness of treatments and interventions, which in turn can be used to assist other patients in similar situations.
Telehome health makes people feel connected.
This article is reprinted with permission from the National Conference of State Legislatures.