Telehealth

Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola and Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast are teaming with the Florida Department of Health to expand their maternit care program.

The health system expects to hire people this fall who will provide information about how to access lactation support and nutrition counseling as well as car seat installation training and stress management.

The city council's finance committee has reinstated some money it previously stripped from the proposed city budget for two popular public health initiatives for the uninsured.

A Manatee County woman with no training in mental health services pretended to be a licensed social worker during online therapy sessions with Brightside Health patients.

The retail giant on April 30 cited an unsustainable business model when it announced it would close its 51 Walmart Health locations in five states. That included 23 stores in Florida.

The risk of death for mothers during pregnancy or in the year following childbirth is rising and experts say one of the contributing factors is lack of access to healthcare. Now, as part of an effort to address the trend, Florida lawmakers are looking into a plan to expand maternal telehealth.

The “front door” to the health system is changing, under pressure from increased demand, consolidation, and changing patient expectations.

Physicians will still have to conduct in-person exams before approving patients for medical marijuana. But it will allow physicians to use telehealth for renewal approvals.

A Venice-based physician who specializes in medical marijuana care, told the Health Care Regulation Subcommittee that using telehealth for renewals would benefit some of the sickest Floridians.

Under current law, patients are required to receive in-person physical exams from physicians to get certified and be evaluated in person at least once every 30 weeks for recertification.

A college administrator says many students seeking mental health care prefer the privacy of teletherapy over an in-person appointment — even when they call in from an on-campus location.

Hospitals are warning doctors not to practice medicine in a state where they don’t have a license. That affects cancer patients and others who have grown to depend on video visits and other remote care.