Kansas, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina are the only states that have used their HCBS waivers to provide telemedicine to beneficiaries in the home, specifically for the use of home remote patient monitoring (Thomas & Capistrant). At this time, Indiana has no plans to include remote patient monitoring in its waiver services, but will be following the results reported by other states. Telehealth Emerging Technologies mHealth, also known as mobile health, is a form of telemedicine using wireless devices and cell phone technologies. Mobile phones, particularly smartphones (i.e., sophisticated cellular phones), and other mobile computing devices, are found nearly everywhere, which enhances the potential to assess and improve health. In contrast to the Internet digital divide that limited for years, if not decades, the reach of computerized health behavior interventions for lower socioeconomic groups, mobile phone use has been rapidly and widely adopted among virtually all demographic groups. Given the high penetration and level of computing capacity available in even basic cell phones, it is possible that these technologies can make a significant difference to public health and health care delivery. The accessibility and data availability of mHealth methodologies could be utilized to change public health and health care on a large scale, for example, by employing mobile tools to decrease the number of people who develop diabetes, prevent falls at home, and help people who need medication to take them as scheduled (NIH).
Kansas, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina are the only states that have used their HCBS waivers to provide telemedicine to beneficiaries in the home, specifically for the use of home remote patient monitoring (Thomas & Capistrant). At this time, Indiana has no plans to include remote patient monitoring in its waiver services, but will be following the results reported by other states. Telehealth Emerging Technologies mHealth, also known as mobile health, is a form of telemedicine using wireless devices and cell phone technologies. Mobile phones, particularly smartphones (i.e., sophisticated cellular phones), and other mobile computing devices, are found nearly everywhere, which enhances the potential to assess and improve health. In contrast to the Internet digital divide that limited for years, if not decades, the reach of computerized health behavior interventions for lower socioeconomic groups, mobile phone use has been rapidly and widely adopted among virtually all demographic groups. Given the high penetration and level of computing capacity available in even basic cell phones, it is possible that these technologies can make a significant difference to public health and health care delivery. The accessibility and data availability of mHealth methodologies could be utilized to change public health and health care on a large scale, for example, by employing mobile tools to decrease the number of people who develop diabetes, prevent falls at home, and help people who need medication to take them as scheduled (NIH).
HEA_1391_Task_Force_draft_6.15.15.7.9.15.docx