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Is the Time Right for Skilled Nursing Facilities to Embrace Telehealth?
Peck launched his previous company, Call9, in 2014, pushing telehealth into nursing homes as a means of reducing unnecessary and costly emergency transports and hospitalizations. But the success stories were few and far between, Medicare rules for telehealth were far too restrictive and the reimbursements weren’t enough to support the programs. Peck folded Call9 in 2019, vowing to try again.
“We talk about the shift to (value-based care) all the time … but we haven’t made the switch,” he told mHealthIntelligence in mid-2019. “We need to flip that switch from fee-for-service … and start rewarding (providers) for bringing value to patient care.”
Peck now thinks that switch is happening. He launched Curve Health in April 2020, fortified by $6 million in seed funding and an ongoing pandemic that was fueling an embrace of virtual care.
In November, a study conducted by researchers at the University of California in Irvine and published in the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine helped prove his point. The study found that a telehealth platform used by six SNFs reduced unnecessary transfers by as much as 80 percent.
READ MORE: Northwell Launches Telehealth Service for Skilled Nursing Facilities
“We have a lot of momentum now,” he said recently. “Doctors are using telehealth much more now (then before the pandemic), and payers want this as well. The world has changed even if our mission never changed.”
Peck says the coronavirus forced the nation’s healthcare industry to embrace telehealth much faster than it would have without the pandemic. For SNFs and assisted living facilities, that transition was much needed. They’ve always been on the front lines of the pandemic, dealing with people much more susceptible to catching the virus and incurring its worst effects, including death. A telehealth program could literally be a life-saver for them.
Curve Health is one of many telehealth vendors to jump into the space, and Peck says it’s important for SNFs to study the platform before choosing a partner. Some will partner with local physician groups or agree to partner with those recommended by the SNF, while others offer their own physician network. It’s also important to examine the technology used, to make sure SNF staff have an immediate link to an on-call physician and with nearby hospitals when triage and transfer are needed.
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