Friday at Five – Studies, Surveys and Reports: What Can We Learn?

More impact seen from COVID-19. Here are recent reports and surveys with some answers and as always leaving us with more questions.

CDC (@CDCgov)

Use of Telemedicine During COVID-19

A survey from the CDC, published on November 2, 2020, found that there’s been a significant increase in the number of doctors that are providing telehealth services to their patients.

The survey demonstrates that more doctors are adapting to the pandemic by becoming online doctors and offering telehealth services. This will only speed up the trend in which telehealth and online doctor services become more popular at the expense of in-person doctor visits.

Boston Medical Center (@The_BMC)

A recent study found that patients with chronic liver disease were at increased risk for poor COVID-19 outcomes, leading to hospitalization among 61% of these patients — and death among 12%.

In an effort to better identify and improve the standard of care for these millions of patients with NAFLD, Boston Medical Center (BMC) announced it has received grant funding from Gilead Sciences to support research around NAFLD. The center will leverage Rimidi’s fatty liver disease platform view to better identify at-risk patients and provide guideline-based management.

OnlineDoctor

OnlineDoctor published a new report that used data from Google Search Trends & the CDC to track the rise of telehealth and online doctors as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Some key findings included:

  • Google Search interest for “telehealth” surged by 317% in the U.S. immediately after a national emergency was declared in the U.S. on March 13th.
  • During this same time, Google Search interest for “doctor near me” dropped by 28% in the U.S.
  • This backs up a recent survey from the CDC, which found only 14% of healthcare providers offered telehealth prior to the pandemic compared to 37% of healthcare providers that now offer telehealth services.
  • The last section of this report includes a state-by-state breakdown of Google Searches for either “telehealth” or “doctor near me” so you can see what people in your state have been searching for during the pandemic.
    Google Search data provides excellent insight into how industries and consumers are changing.

Fortified Health Security (@FortifiedHITSec)

2021 Horizon Report

The report details findings that illustrate how, as healthcare organizations continue to respond to the pandemic, cybercriminals have continued to persist in their attacks on providers, health plans and business associates – compromising sensitive patient data while impacting the delivery of care to patients.

NAACOS (@NAACOSnews)

NAACOS Examines Participation Decline During Previous Administration
The number of participants in the largest and most successful value-based payment program reached its lowest level since the Trump administration took office four years ago, according to new data released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). To start 2021, 477 accountable care organizations (ACOs) are participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program, down from a high of 561 in 2018 and the lowest since 480 participated in 2017, the Trump administration’s first year in office.