NY Hep C Telemedicine Workgroup Meeting Notes | 9-16-20

NY Hep C Telemedicine Workgroup – Meeting Notes

Thursday September 16 (10 – 11 AM) via Webinar

In attendance at this meeting: See below notes 

Workgroup Chair: Andrew Talal, MD, University at Buffalo, ahtalal@buffalo.edu

Workgroup goals: Short term: Identify, assess, document and disseminate current strategies and opportunities to provide hepatitis C treatment in substance use treatment facilities, via telemedicine. Long-term: Develop a NYS Telehealth network to provide a forum for ongoing learning and sharing of best practices to promote hepatitis B and C care and treatment through telehealth.

Meeting Notes

Implementing Hep C Treatment and Telehealth at REACH
Justine Waldman, MD –  jwaldman@reachmed.org

• Rapid implementation of telehealth in March 2020
• Important to select a platform that does not require an app for ease of use to patients
• HCV and HIV testing are offered at intake and all visits as appropriate but some decline, postpone or have fear of stigma
• Challenges include assisting those affected by criminal justice system, payment models and stigma around buprenorphine
• See presentation here.

Proposed changes to telehealth benefits for CMS,
Frank Winter – frank.winter@cms.hhs.gov 

• CMS expects waivers to remain for the duration of the public health emergency or until December 31, 2021
• Waivers include expanded coverage of telehealth technologies
• Submit comments on the Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule here.
• See presentation here.

Resources

• CMS Telehealth Toolkit: background on the decisions that States face along with what flexibility they normally have for covering telehealth services and what additional flexibilities they have during the current Public Health Emergency.
• New York State’s COVID-19 guidance for providers and waiver requests.
• Adirondack Health Institute – two week virtual North Country Telehealth Conference. Register.
• Hep Free NYC NY Telehealth Resources for hepatitis providers

Attendees:

1. Andrew Talal, MD, SUNY Research Foundation, ahtalal@buffalo.edu
2. Jeff Weiss, REACH, jeffrey.weiss@mountsinai.org
3. Frank Winter, CMS, frank.winter@cms.hhs.gov
4. Pat Lincourt , NYS OASAS, pat.lincourt@oasas.ny.gov
5. Colleen Flanigan, RN, NYS DOH, colleen.flanigan@health.ny.gov
6. Nadine Kela-Murphy, MPH, NYC DOHMH, nkelamurphy@health.nyc.gov
7. Nirah Johnson, LCSW, NYC DOHMH, njohnso2@health.nyc.gov
8. Meg Chappell, MPH, Empire Liver Foundation, megchapell@empireliverfoundation.org
9. Darlene Meyer, SUNY, dkmeyer@buffalo.edu
10. Marie Bresnahan, MPH, NYC DOHMH, mbresnahan@health.nyc.gov
11. Daanish Shaikh, START Treatment and Recovery Centers, dshaikh@startny.org
12. Alvin Chu, MA, MPH, START Treatment and Recovery Centers, achu@startny.org
13. Rebecca LaMarca, START Treatment and Recovery Centers, rlamarca@startny.org
14. Anthony McLeod, START Treatment and Recovery Centers, amcleod@startny.org
15. Kathleen Davis, University of Rochester Medical Center, Kathleen_davis@urmc.rochester.edu
16. Dan Shappee, AbbVie, Daniel.shappee@abbvie.com
17. Pruthvi Patel, Mount Sinai, pruthvi.patel@mountsinai.org
18. Deborah Brown, Deborah.brown@health.nyc.gov
19. Stephanie McHugh, stephanie.mchugh@health.nyc.gov
20. Andrew Reynolds, areynoldshcv@gmail.com
21. Justine Waldman, REACH, jwaldman@reachmed.org
22. Arslan Mohamed, amohamed1@health.nyc.gov
23. Debra Farron, Gilead Science, debra.farron@gilead.com
24. Marc Badura, SUNY, mbadura@buffalo.edu
25. Katy Cook, AHI, kcook@ahihealth.org
26. Joyce Gholson, START, jgholson@startny.org

Last Updated on November 13, 2020 by HepFree NYC