Study: Telemedicine can cut hospitalizations from nursing homes

A controlled study of 11 nursing homes indicates that switching from on-call to telemedicine physician coverage during off hours could reduce hospitalizations, and generate cost savings to Medicare in excess of the facility’s investment in the service. However, the savings were evident only at the nursing homes that used the telemedicine service to a greater extent, compared to the other study facilities, according to an abstract of the study reported in the February issue of HealthAffairs. “Telemedicine service providers and nursing home leaders might need to take additional steps to encourage buy-in to the use of telemedicine at facilities with such services,” the study authors stated.