The Strange Intersection of COVID-19, Telehealth, and Health System Stabilization Right Now

摘要

We seem to be in a truly strange moment now in terms of hospital and health system financial health and its connection to the dynamics around telehealth adoption, as the U.S. healthcare delivery system trudges through the COVID-19 pandemic and its ensuing crises. As everyone knows, the order on March 18 from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for the leaders of patient care organizations to halt elective medical procedures led to a crash in patient care organization finances. Beginning in mid-May, hospitals and clinics in various states had begun to reschedule those elective procedures. But much financial damage had already been done. As a press release published to the website of the Chicago-based consulting firm Kaufman Hall noted on May 21, "The median Operating Margin [of U.S. acute-care hospitals] fell to -29 percent- and the median Operating EBITDA Margin ended the month at -19 percent, down 174 percent compared to the same period last year and 191 percent below budget." These and other findings were highlighted in the May issue of Kaufman Hall's National Hospital Flash Report, which draws on April data from more than 800 hospitals.