Orthopedic practices should incorporate telemedicine into physician-controlled bundled payment plans to improve post-acute care, reduce expenses and improve patient outcomes, mHealthIntelligence reports.
Here are five insights on creating payer-approved bundles:
1. Greensboro, N.C.-based Delta Joint Management orthopedic surgeon Stephen Lucey, MD, expects to see physician-controlled bundled payments increasingly paired with telehealth and telemedicine.
2. In a physician-controlled bundled payment plan, the physician decides on a treatment plan and dollar amount. The payer gives the physician that amount, and the physician alone is responsible for making it work.
3. DJM guides patients through in home-based postoperative rehab programs using Reflexion Health's Virtual Exercise Rehabilitation Assistant platform. The connected care platform allows physicians to monitor patients, adjust treatments accordingly and track outcomes.
4. Reflexion President and CEO Joe Smith said payers will be more receptive to creating a physician-controlled plan if physicians present data showing improved quality and lower costs. Telehealth allows physicians to regularly collect data to prove clinical progress, he said.
5. Dr. Lucey and Mr. Smith said providers should thoroughly map out all of the participants in a treatment plan and ensure every line item adds value. The bundled payment plan should be standardized and scalable, facilitating personalized care plans or larger populations, they said.