The Case for Stronger Hospice Telehealth Investment, Integration
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Hospice News
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Thyme Care was featured in Hospice News, where Dr. Julia Frydman, senior medical director, discussed the challenges hospices face in investing in telehealth amid regulatory uncertainty. She noted that the short-term extensions of CMS waivers make it difficult for organizations to justify long-term investments in technology and staffing, despite patients increasingly relying on telemedicine. The article highlights perspectives from industry leaders at the Hospice News ELEVATE conference, emphasizing both the benefits of expanded telehealth—such as improved access, better use of staff resources, and enhanced end-of-life support—and the pressing need for a stable, permanent regulatory framework to sustain innovation. Preview below:
Patients and their families have a host of unmet needs that deeper integration of technology could help address. But hospices have hesitated to make larger investments due to uncertainty around telehealth regulations.
Hospices are navigating unknowns about their technology investments as telehealth waivers temporarily instituted by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) during the COVID-19 public health emergency soon expire on Sept. 30. The waivers have been extended several times in recent years amid mounting concerns at the potentially detrimental impacts of their expiration.
Evolving telehealth regulations have resulted in difficult financial decisions when it comes to technology integration, particularly in the hospice space, according to Dr. Julia Frydman, senior medical director of Thyme Care, which serves patients and families navigating cancer and serious illness. The regulatory environment is not allowing hospices to keep pace with telehealth demand, Frydman said at the Hospice News ELEVATE conference in Florida.