These presentations were recorded during the 10th Annual Telehealth Summit. The Golden State for Telehealth: What's Next for California hosted by the California Telehealth Resource Center (CTRC) was held virtually from August 9-10, 2022.
First Section: Telehealth: Dynamic Competencies and Innovative Technology Bridging Providers to Rural Residents in Need
Currently, 14% of the U.S. population, or about 46 million people, live in rural areas (2020). These rural Americans experience significant health disparities such as increased mortality rates, lower life expectancy, higher incidence of disease, higher incidence of disability, and higher rates of pain and suffering (RHIhub, 2019). While there is a myriad of factors that contribute to poorer health outcomes in rural America, perhaps the most pressing factor is limited access to healthcare and medical facilities (CDC, 2019). Rural hospital closures have accelerated in the last decade (Anderson et al., 2019) and many remaining rural healthcare facilities are understaffed (COGME, 2020). Telehealth is increasingly recognized as a potential solution to this growing problem, helping healthcare providers reach rural patients in need (Barnett et al, 2020). The following convergent parallel mixed methods study, Tele-Health: Dynamic Competencies and Innovative Technology Bridging Providers to Rural Residents in Need, seeks to reveal and systematize telehealth possibilities and necessities critical for, not only reaching but for supporting quality healthcare at a distance for rural residents. Opportunities and needs were revealed through quantitative surveys with medical professionals and qualitative interviews with telehealth practitioners. Telehealth is clearly identified as a potential solution for disparities faced by rural residents and more specifically, the dynamic competencies of the providers and the methods for applying innovative technology combine to create the provider-to-patient telehealth bridge.
Speaker:
Dr. Jillian R. Williamson Yarbrough
Clinical Assistant and the Virginia Engler Professor of Management
West Texas A&M University
Second Section: Leveraging Innovative Telehealth Strategies and Technology to Increase Revenue & Quality
In this presentation, you will learn strategies to help you maximize your current use of technology systems to increase workflow efficiencies. Telehealth has made a huge impact on the healthcare industry and now that telehealth is here to stay, we will show you how to evaluate your current workflows, vendors, systems, and quality initiatives to provide the best care to your patients while maximizing your revenue opportunity. The healthcare industry is having to do more with less (due to limited staff and resources) and you can increase productivity, access to healthcare, and patient experience by leveraging new technologies as well as workflow innovations to meet the demands of its evolving landscape.
Speaker:
Ellie Lopez
Lead HealthCare Consultant
JopeConnect
