Two Harrisburg health care associations were awarded a total of $250,000 in grant money as part of a national initiative to make access to telehealth services more equitable.

If you were to ask any health system executive what the future of health care was in 2019, they would have said telemedicine. And in March of last year, with patients unable to access their physicians because of the quarantine, that shift to telemedicine happened in weeks, not years.

Highmark members increased their use of telehealth services by 3,400% last year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In preparation for its Medicare product rollout for 2020, Highmark Health ensured that it had the infrastructure to allow all of its Medicare consumers the ability to receive care through telehealth.

A dramatic increase to Medicare reimbursements for telemedicine services that allowed health care providers to receive payment for services they provide online, could continue after the public health emergency is over.

Montour County-based Geisinger was awarded $978,000 from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to put towards equipment for the system’s telehealth services.

UPMC Pinnacle was awarded more than $705,000 by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to enhance telehealth services at its hospitals.

Highmark said it will be waiving deductibles, coinsurance and copayments for telehealth services and inpatient hospital care related to COVID-19 through September 30.

Independent medical practices have overhauled how they offer in-person visits to protect their staff and patients from contacting COVID-19, but if patients don’t return soon to their providers, many small clinics – some say 30 to 50% -- could face closures by the end of the summer.

Regional urgent care provider Patient First is offering telehealth appointments for its patients in Pennsylvania, and drive-up COVID-19 testing at a number of its locations in the state.

A series of changes in Medicare over the last month allowing health care providers to receive reimbursements for telemedicine services was something providers thought would take years.

Relying on Medicaid reimbursements and fundraising to keep the lights on, Lancaster County-based Schreiber Center for Pediatrics has a difficult path ahead of it, depending on when it can reopen to patients.

A new Medicare payment model being tested on three midstate EMS agencies will offer more options for caring with patients covered under Medicare

Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center’s registered nurses trained in sexual assault examination will be offering remote care to patients in rural regions.