02 Jun Importance of Screening Tools in Telehealth

An unexpected outcome of the recent COVID-19 pandemic is the change from regular ambulatory and well-child visits to using telehealth to continue patient care. While telehealth was already making significant inroads into the health care scene, the pandemic has dramatically accelerated that process.

Likewise, patient generated health data (or PGHD) is trending into clinical practice – with recent support from The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and commentaries in the New England Journal. These studies summarize increased parent and doctor satisfaction, as well as impact on outcomes such as decreased Emergency Department (ED) usage, and even lower mortality in cancer patients.

Both telehealth and complementary use of screening tools to collect PGHD are innovations in care delivery that are likely to endure after the pandemic.

New regulatory and guidance adjustments are greatly facilitating these shifts. The AAP has issued Guidance on Providing Pediatric Ambulatory Services via Telehealth During COVID-19.

The gist of the new guidelines state:

• Payers should pay for telehealth
• Well-child care should occur in person whenever possible
• Where community circumstances require pediatricians to limit in-person well visits:
  • Prioritize newborn care and immunization for children two years and under
  • Well visits for children may be conducted through telehealth
• Where community circumstances require pediatricians to limit in-person visits, acute or chronic care should continue via telehealth

Just because there is a new vehicle that is used to deliver care, doesn’t mean the journey and road map has changed. It is still important to meet the Bright Futures Guidelines and virtual delivery of patient data is completely possible. It just requires the right tools and a new view of the landscape.

Many PGHD tools and screens are offered separately by authors and publishers. However, you can subscribe to a platform like CHADIS for one-stop screening with over 600 options for intake, screening, diagnostic, QI tools, and tools to collect historical data.

If you’re interested in learning about the many advantages to pre-telehealth patient data collection, click here to download the full guide.

Guest Blog submitted by Barbara Howard, MD with CHADIS