Ami Bhatt, MD, the American College of Cardiology (ACC) chief innovation officer, an adult congenital heart disease cardiologist at Mass General Hospital (MGH) in Boston, discusses the practical implications of implementing a telecardiology program. She is the former director of telecardiology at Mass General Hospital at the start of the pandemic 2020-2021.
While telemedicine has been around for more than a decade, it has never seen widespread adoption, mainly due to insurance companies preferring that patients have an in-person office visit. However, that quickly changed in the spring of 2020 as healthcare systems and government health officials looked for ways to reduce contact between people while still delivering care. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) authorized payment waivers for telemedicine during the COVID emergency, and this helped open the floodgates for its use. Many medical societies are now lobbying to keep the CMS telemedicine reimbursement provisions in place after the pandemic subsides.
Read more about her suggestions on how to build a telecardiology program in the article Telecardiology during the COVID-19 pandemic showed cardiologists another way to treat patients.
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Dave Fornell has covered healthcare for more than 17 years, with a focus in cardiology and radiology. Fornell is a 5-time winner of a Jesse H. Neal Award, the most prestigious editorial honors in the field of specialized journalism. The wins included best technical content, best use of social media and best COVID-19 coverage. Fornell was also a three-time Neal finalist for best range of work by a single author. He produces more than 100 editorial videos each year, most of them interviews with key opinion leaders in medicine. He also writes technical articles, covers key trends, conducts video hospital site visits, and is very involved with social media. E-mail: dfornell@innovatehealthcare.com