In our interview with Paula Thompson, RN, MS, CRNI, President and CEO of Fidelity Health Care, we learn how her organization has advanced partnerships with five health systems and physician practices.

Do more to demonstrate the value of post-acute care.

Is COVID-19 identifying a major gap in DME services? As hospitals discharge patients into their homes or other residential settings to free-up resources and hospital beds, the resultant strain on the provision of DME items and services, particularly for suppliers of home oxygen and ventilators, will significantly increase. Read about unintended consequences.

COVID-19 quickly identifies gaps in the health care delivery system. In the acute care hospital, the Respiratory Therapists (RT) is a well-respected team leader in respiratory care. Yet as soon as that patient is discharged, they suddenly lose that supportive RT expertise. RTs are underutilized in the post-acute setting because there currently is no payment mechanism to recognize essential RT services. As patients move into the home, this becomes front and center especially under COVID-19.

It’s an important time to review legal questions and issues related to COVID-19. There is a lot of mis-information flying around and it’s easy for providers to get tripped up. But providers must ensure that they are doing it right in order to avoid a day of legal reckoning that could threaten their businesses in the future.

MaineHealth Care at Home began using telehealth in 2001. In our Interview with Donna DeBlois, RN, BSW, MSB, MBA, AHCA, President of MaineHealth Care at Home, we learn how her organization is expanding telehealth to a broader patient population under COVID-19.