Byline: Joseph Goedert
Colorado is the testing ground for an ambitious program by insurer UnitedHealth Group to develop a national telemedicine network connecting patients in underserved communities with specialists.
Minneapolis-based UnitedHealth recently launched the program with networking vendor Cisco Systems Inc., San Jose, Calif. Cisco brings the video-conferencing technology, and the insurer brings a commitment of 'tens of millions of dollars' and a national network of providers from which to recruit participants.
In Colorado, 12-hospital Centura Health is the partner as the program gets off the ground. The provider and payer had a mutual interest in telehealth; they already jointly conducted a pilot program to use video conferencing to enable home health clinicians to meet regularly with patients. 'It morphed into something much bigger with a new strategic plan to extend our rural health services,' says Gary Campbell, president and CEO at Centura Health. 'So, we took it out of the context of home care and broadened it.'
The Colorado Rural Health Center, which serves dual roles as the State Office of Rural Health and the State Rural Health Association, also joined the effort. Centura Health is getting significant interest from clinician members of the association to participate in the pilot, Campbell says.
Project leaders are recruiting four rural clinics linked to two or three Centura sites - hospitals or specialty group practices - to participate in the pilot that will begin in early 2010. The goal is to demonstrate that an integrated delivery system can extend its services into rural areas via telemedicine and deliver the same quality of care as if the care was provided face-to-face, says Mark Gennerman, vice president of connective care initiatives at UnitedHealthcare of Colorado. The division of UnitedHealth Group serves 760,000 members in the state. 'We want to augment the services of the clinics,' he adds. 'We want to know what specialties they have the greatest need for.'
Stepping Stone
UnitedHealthcare of Colorado views the project as a proof-of-concept pilot that could expand beyond rural areas to serve other underserved regions, says Beth Soberg, CEO. 'We want to eventually see this type of technology delivered to the point where patients can see two or three physicians at once, and also to bring in urban areas and eventually the home.'
UnitedHealth Group's national long-range goal envisions small telehealth programs in retail stores, pharmacies, drugstore clinics such as RediClinic and Minute Clinic, and workplaces. A trained medical attendant would present the patient to a remote physician and operate the telemedicine and diagnostic equipment.
Working with Project HOPE, UnitedHealth Group also will test in New Mexico the use of mobile clinics to expand services.
In the initial effort in Colorado, UnitedHealthcare will pay for the technology. Centura Health physicians will get reimbursed from UnitedHealthcare - and other insurers that may join the program - as if a telehealth session was an in-office visit, Campbell says. He expects Medicare and Medicaid to participate, and Cigna Healthcare has expressed interest.
After the pilot, organizers will assess demand for telehealth services, determine which services are most needed, investigate how to scale the program, measure patient satisfaction, and work out logistics and scheduling issues with the clinics, Campbell notes. 'I don't think there will be any huge revelations. It's just a matter of working out the bugs and making things move smoothly. Health care needs to make better use of the technology we have and encourage better collaboration among participants.'
