“I woke up every morning for four days and had to ice my lips, take Benadryl, and drink lots of fluid for the swelling to go down only a little bit. My lips peeled for over a week and blistered and bled, and I had to use steroid cream on my lips for it to heal quicker.”
Wilburn said it was “extremely embarrassing” to walk around looking like she had botched lip filler or a cosmetic procedure.
Although Wilburn said it might have felt like she had “free lip injections,” she would not recommend that people wear Aquaphor in the sun.
Because the internet is going to internet, however, some people on the social platform are already posting themselves applying Aquaphor in hopes of achieving a full-lipped pout without lip plumpers or injections.
The search “sunburn Aquaphor” has 2.1 billion views on TikTok, with some users commenting about how they can’t wait to try the trend for themselves on their next trip to the beach.
“This is my sign to wear aquaphor in the sun ☝️,” one user commented on the post. “Thanks I’ll be trying,” another said.
However, dermatologists are warning users of the risks of sun damage. A spokesperson for Aquaphor also told BuzzFeed News about the brand’s thoughts on the TikTok trend.
“We only encourage usage of Aquaphor as directed on the label and for its main purpose, which is to hydrate lips and provide long-lasting moisture,” said Leslie Kickham, external communications leader at Beiersdorf, the company that owns Aquaphor. “People who are following TikTok trends and applying Aquaphor in unapproved ways should not do so.”
The company recommends that people use a specific product it makes, Aquaphor Lip Protectant + Sunscreen, if they are going to be in the sun.
Here’s what to know about Aquaphor, sunburns, and why you shouldn’t apply this on purpose to plump up your lips in the sun.
Why do some products cause lip sunburns?
First up, we need to point out that there’s nothing special about Aquaphor in this case. Applying any petroleum-based product, like Vaseline, to your lips before spending time in the sun can lead to sunburn because the products don’t contain SPF, which protects against UV rays.
Although petroleum and oil products are great for locking in moisture on dry and cracking lips — dermatologists warned against using the products in the sun, and instead, told us to opt for an SPF lip balm. On other parts of the body that produce sweat, petroleum- or oil-based products can block pores and trap sweat.
“It looks like some people are purposely applying petroleum-based products on their lips to make them bigger. This is incredibly unwise,” said Ranella Hirsch, a board-certified dermatologist based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “Since a key component of this hack is to cause a sunburn, you put yourself in a direct line for hyperpigmentation, pain, infection, and skin cancer.”
Lips are a combination of muscle and connective tissue and are automatically positioned to be exposed to the sun just like the rest of your face. As a result, a sunburn can manifest as the immune system tries to protect the body from UV ray–induced damage.
Since the lips are a different type of tissue (mucosal tissue, which is a soft tissue), Dr. Elizabeth Bahar Houshmand, a fellow at the American Academy of Dermatology, told BuzzFeed News, there are specific risks of using petroleum- and oil-based products on thinner and more sensitive skin.
“Lipcare products with SPF protect against sun damage, but products with petroleum like Aquaphor or Vaseline put you at risk for a sunburn, as they do not have photoprotection or SPF,” Houshmand said. “This is why you are seeing the swelling, redness, and enlargement of the lips and even blister formation with excessive sun exposure. Similar to applying baby oil to the skin and getting a sunburn.”
Compared to other parts of the body that typically have 15 to 16 layers of skin, lips are made up of three to four layers, one of the thinnest layers on the body. That means that our lips don’t have a layer of protection like the rest of our skin does.
The 10 to 30 upper layers of skin are called the stratum corneum, where cells are a bit tougher and ready to fight against the sun’s radiation. Additionally, sebaceous glands, or sweat glands, aren’t found on the lips like they are in other areas of the body. Sweat controls body temperature and serves as the first layer of defense from environmental factors.
As a result, chronic sun exposure can cause a precancerous lesion, actinic cheilitis, also known as sailor’s lip, which often forms on the lower lip. The lesion can develop into squamous cell carcinoma, a common form of skin cancer.
Squamous cell carcinomas typically are not as likely to spread as some types of skin cancers, but when they form on the lips they are 11 times more likely to metastasize than those that develop elsewhere on the body. (There is also a risk of basal cell carcinoma appearing on the top lip.)
With an estimated 1.8 million cases of squamous cell carcinoma diagnosed each year in the US — and a 200% increase in the past three decades — it’s important to practice sun safety, including applying SPF, wearing protective clothing, and avoiding tanning.
Symptoms of sunburned lips
Swelling, redness, peeling, and blistering are all signs of a lip sunburn, Houshmand said.
“The risks are having a decreased skin barrier meaning dryness irritation, dehydrated lips, and excessive temperature extremes,” Houshmand said. “Applying petrolatum and going out in the sun can cause a burn which leads to the swelling making the lips bigger. This is being called ‘instant filler.’ It is a sunburn and sun damage.”
“Applying sunscreen is just as important as applying it on other areas of your body,” Hirsch said. “Since the skin on the lips is the most susceptible part, sun damage can be a significant risk factor for developing skin cancer.”
Here’s what you can do to help with swelling
It’s important to avoid petroleum and oil products in the sun, and experts told BuzzFeed News, it also might be harmful to apply after a sunburn as well.
“If you have a mild sunburn, use a cool compress on your lips to help with swelling and to decrease the heat in your lips. With a sunburn, do not use any lip products with petroleum; this will keep the heat in and prolong the burn and the symptoms,” Houshmand said. “Taking an anti-inflammatory may be helpful.”
Like other parts of the body, adding an extra step to your routine can lower your risk of skin cancer.
“The goal is cooling and pain relief,” Hirsch said. Staying hydrated, avoiding additional sun, gently applying a cold compress soaked in whole milk, taking an anti-inflammatory medication like ibuprofen or Tylenol, and staying away from spicy foods can be helpful.
If your skin is peeling, Hirsch also added that it’s critically important to not “help it along” by peeling off the skin on the lips. Additionally, if blisters do appear, don’t pop them.
“They are functioning as a biological wound dressing,” Hirsch said. “Interfering with them such as unroofing or popping them increases the risk of developing an infection.”
“Learn from the experience and always apply, and reapply, sunscreen to the lips,” Hirsch said.
A U.S. representative has introduced a bill that would allow the FDA to share information with state and local entities for the purpose of investigating foodborne outbreaks and food recalls.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Deborah Ross, D-North Carolina, is named the Federal State and Food Safety Information Act. Ross said she introduced the bill in response to the current nationwide Listeria outbreak traced to Boar’s Head deli meats.
The inspection and regulatory powers related to the Boar’s Head situation fall within the authority of the USDA, but Ross said the FDA also needs more power to share information with other public health agencies.
“We must empower Food and Drug Administration to share information with the state and local agencies that are not only responsible for conducting the majority of food safety inspections nationwide but also with keeping Americans safe during times of crisis,” Ross said when announcing the proposed legislation.
The Boar’s Head outbreak has sickened at least 57 people, killing nine. All of the patients have been so sick that they required hospitalization.
The Boar’s Head plant in southern Virginia was repeatedly cited for violations in the past two years, including the presence of mold, mildew, insects a “rancid smell” and other problems according to reports byUSDA inspectors.
Ross’s proposed legislation would allow the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to share information with state and local regulatory agencies, which are responsible for conducting most food safety inspections, according to a press release.
The FDA does not currently have the authority to share this information because it’s considered proprietary.
Ross cited communication between federal and local agencies in North Carolina that resulted in the recall of lead-contaminated applesauce across the country last year as an example of how sharing information for food safety benefits people.
“In my home state of North Carolina, we saw how effective information sharing between federal and state agencies during a food safety crisis led to a food recall that saved lives in states across the country,” Ross said.
In part, the Federal State and Food Safety Information Act would allow for the FDA to share information with a state, local, Tribal or Territorial authority with counterpart functions related to the protection of public health, unredacted information in the possession of the Food and Drug Administration relating to any of the following:
(A) Foodborne illness surveillance data.
(B) Laboratory sampling testing information.
(C) Inspectional information and results.
(D) Distribution lists for recalls and outbreaks.
(E) Consumer complaints.
(F) Any other information the Secretary determines will assist such authority in protecting the public.
(To sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News,clickhere)
The computer systems run by the consulting giant Deloitte that millions of Americans rely on for Medicaid and other government benefits are prone to errors that can take years and hundreds of millions of dollars to update. While states wait for fixes from Deloitte, beneficiaries risk losing access to health care and food.
Changes needed to fix Deloitte-run eligibility systems often pile on costs to the government that are much higher than the original contracts, which can slow the process of fixing errors.
It has become a big problem across the country. Twenty-five states have awarded Deloitte contracts for eligibility systems, giving the company a stronghold in a lucrative segment of the government benefits business. The agreements, in which the company commits to design, develop, implement, or operate state-owned systems, are worth at least $6 billion, dwarfing any of its competitors, a KFF Health News investigation found.
Problems and delays can extend beyond Medicaid — which provides health coverage to roughly 75 million low-income people — because some state systems assess eligibility for other safety-net programs. Whether a person gets the benefits they are entitled to depends on what the computer says.
There is no automatic switch to stop errors in the system, said Elizabeth Edwards, a senior attorney with the National Health Law Program, a nonprofit that advocates for people with low incomes and medically underserved populations. The group in January filed a complaint urging the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Deloitte, alleging “ongoing and nationwide” errors and “unfair and deceptive trade practices.”
“People will go without care,” Edwards said, and until there’s a fix or a workaround, “you will continue to have the harm over and over again.”
Kenneth Smith, a Deloitte executive who leads its national human services division, previously told KFF Health News that Medicaid eligibility technology is state-owned and agencies “direct their operation” and “make decisions about the policies and processes that they implement.” Smith has called the legal nonprofit’s allegations “without merit.”
States set aside millions of dollars to cover the cost of changes, but systems may require fixes beyond the agreed-upon work. The number of hours or updates is capped each year, so states are left to prioritize certain fixes over others. And even though Deloitte isn’t reinventing the wheel for each eligibility system it builds or runs, the company addresses problems state by state rather than patching through fixes for systems across states, Smith said — a change request in one state “likely has absolutely nothing to do with another state.”
“Because of the custom nature of these systems, it’s never quite that simplistic as, ‘Hey, a particular issue that’s arisen in state of A is directly applicable to state of B,’” Smith said.
Speaking generally, Smith said, “I’m unaware of any circumstance in which a client has needed to get something done that we haven’t found a way to get it done.”
Deloitte’s estimates show that 35 change requests for Georgia’s eligibility system in 2023 would take more than 104,000 hours of work, according to a list of change requests that KFF Health News obtained in response to a public records request. That’s the equivalent of 50 years of work, if someone worked 52 weeks a year at 40 hours a week.
“System changes were made to align with changing federal and state policies, as well as to meet evolving business needs,” said Ellen Brown, a spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Human Services. Brown earlier said changes also were made to “improve functionality.”
The federal government — that is, its taxpayers — covers 90% of states’ costs to develop and implement state Medicaid eligibility systems and pays 75% of ongoing maintenance and operations expenses, according to federal regulations.
Eligibility systems for years have posed problems for states because of the dynamic between contractors and government officials, said Matt Salo, CEO of consulting firm Salo Health Strategies. The companies hold the expertise “and, quite frankly, they’re kind of running circles around the state capacity,” said Salo, a former executive director of the National Association of Medicaid Directors.
“For decades all I’ve heard from states in this arena is: We know that when we go out to contract it’s going to cost us a lot of money and it is going to run over, it is going to deliver years late, it is going to deliver millions if not hundreds of millions of dollars over budget,” Salo said, and “by the time it’s delivered, our needs have changed and so it’s just this constant process of change orders and going back and fixing.”
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Going to Court in Florida
Two advocacy groups last August sued Florida in federal court, alleging tens of thousands of people were losing coverage without proper warning. And Florida’s eligibility system was cutting off Medicaid coverage for some moms after giving birth, William Roberts, a state employee who reviews Medicaid eligibility decisions, testified when the case went to trial in July.
Florida previously gave moms two months of Medicaid coverage after giving birth. Federal regulators in 2022 approved Florida’s proposal to grant Medicaid benefits for 12 months. But in April 2023 state officials discovered a “glitch,” Roberts said, and “the system had reverted back to only giving mothers two months instead of giving them the 12 months that they were entitled to.”
What became clear in the testimony is that the state and Deloitte take different views on what constitutes a “defect” in a Deloitte-run system. Deloitte said it would fix defects without billing any additional hours for the work. Although Deloitte is not a named defendant in the lawsuit, the company was called to testify about its role in operating Florida’s eligibility system.
Harikumar Kallumkal, a Deloitte managing director who oversees the Florida system, initially testified that, in this case, there was no problem and “the computer system was providing 12 months” of postpartum coverage.
Then Kallumkal said, “Even in this case, I do not believe it was a defect.” Even so, “we did fix that.” And for the fix, he said, Deloitte “did not charge” the state.
Rather, a separate defect may have resulted in coverage losses for mothers after childbirth, Kallumkal testified.
Some historical data “required to determine postpartum coverage” was not loading into the system, Kallumkal said. “I don’t know how many cases it impacted,” he said, but Deloitte fixed the problem.
The courtroom revelation confirmed what Florida advocates already knew: an eligibility system issue prevented some of the state’s most vulnerable from getting care. Florida denied allegations that it terminated Medicaid coverage without providing adequate notice. The case is ongoing.
When Michigan resumed regular Medicaid eligibility checks following the covid-19 pandemic, advocates saw a concerning trend.
The computer system routinely fails to recognize when certain adults with disabilities should receive Medicaid benefits, said Dawn Calnen, executive director of The Arc of Oakland County, which provides support for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Often a person who qualifies for Medicaid initially for one reason could remain eligible even when life circumstances change. Calnen said there’s no question that the people her group assisted are still eligible, just in a different way than during the pandemic.
The problem is frequent enough that Calnen’s group felt compelled to notify others. “We kind of shout it from the rooftop for people: Know that this is going to happen.”
When asked about the problem, Chelsea Wuth, a spokesperson for Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services, said there were “no issues” with the system. Deloitte operates Michigan’s eligibility system. The company said it does not comment on state-specific issues.
Tennessee hired Deloitte in 2016 to build an eligibility system after the state canceled a contract with Northrop Grumman due to chronic delays. Deloitte didn’t create the Tennessee system, known as TEDS, from scratch. It built on components from Georgia’s system, according to a legal declaration and a deposition of Kimberly Hagan, Tennessee Medicaid’s director of member services, that were part of a class-action lawsuit that Medicaid beneficiaries filed against the state in 2020.
The lawsuit, which is ongoing and does not name Deloitte as a defendant, seeks to order Tennessee to restore coverage under its Medicaid program, known as TennCare, for those who wrongly lost it. Hagan, in a court filing, said many problems “reflect some unforeseen flaws or gaps” with the Tennessee eligibility system and “some design errors.”
A federal judge on Aug. 26 sided with the Medicaid beneficiaries, ruling that Tennessee violated federal law and the U.S. Constitution. “Poor, disabled, and otherwise disadvantaged Tennesseans should not require luck, perseverance, or zealous lawyering to receive healthcare benefits they are entitled to under the law,” wrote U.S. District Court Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr., adding, “TEDS is flawed, and TennCare knows that it is flawed.”
Tennessee Medicaid spokesperson Amy Lawrence said the state is “determining what our next steps will be.”
Tennessee’s $823 million contract with Deloitte shows that the budget for changes outside the contract’s original scope increased by hundreds of millions of dollars. Deloitte’s maximum compensation for such change orders rose to $417 million under a 2023 contract amendment, up from $103.6 million four years earlier.
Lawrence said state officials “do not and would not pay to fix vendor errors.” Lawrence attributed the cost increases to “system modernization” in “an effort to enhance our citizens’ interactions with the state Medicaid program.” Additional funding was also needed to comply with new federal requirements related to the covid-19 pandemic, she said.
Waiting on Fixes
States sometimes wait so long for Deloitte’s fixes that the staffers who worked on the problems don’t see the results. Jamie Perkins was responsible for making letters easier for Colorado Medicaid enrollees to understand. The letters are generated by Colorado’s Deloitte-run eligibility system. State audits have found that the notices confuse enrollees and contain errors. Perkins said she left her job in 2021, frustrated that many of her fixes hadn’t been implemented.
“It feels like a really perverse reward system, frankly, for Deloitte,” Perkins said. “When Deloitte is themselves making a problem that did not originate with the department, the department is still paying them to fix those problems.”
The state’s contract with Deloitte now outlines “protocols to address issues that are the result of the contractor,” said Trish Grodzicki, a spokesperson for Colorado’s Medicaid agency. As of June 30, Colorado “has made substantial improvements” and a “majority of the letters have been rewritten” and updated in the system, she said.
Deloitte spokesperson Karen Walsh said “a change request can represent a number of different things,” including when states make policy decisions that would warrant system updates. Smith said Deloitte views change requests and system issues, or defects, as different things.
“We have a responsibility when there’s a system issue to fix that,” Walsh said. “We don’t get a change request to fix an issue.”
Yet in Kentucky and other places, states have submitted change orders to resolve issues. Government officials and Deloitte sometimes negotiate fixes for months before they’re implemented.
Kentucky resident Beverly Likens lost Medicaid coverage in June 2023 partly due to an error with the state’s Deloitte-run system. State health officials told a legal aid group in September 2023 that a “change order has been submitted” to fix the glitch, which blocked her new coverage application from getting through online.
Kentucky resident Beverly Likens lost Medicaid coverage in June 2023 partly due to an error with the state’s Deloitte-run eligibility system.(Veronica Turner for KFF Health News)
Likens, with the help of a lawyer, had her Medicaid benefits quickly reinstated, but that was far from the end of the saga. The problem that caused her benefits to lapse was resolved in April — 10 months later — when Kentucky implemented the first phase of a change request, Kentucky’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services told KFF Health News.
Agency spokesperson Brice Mitchell said the change request was designed to address a “limitation of the system rather than technical issues.” The request, for which a second phase was implemented in July, cost $522,455 and took more than 3,500 hours of work, according to Mitchell and documents obtained in response to a public records request. All such requests “are thoroughly vetted, negotiated and approved by several areas within the Cabinet,” Mitchell said in an emailed statement.
“These are large, complex system implementations,” Walsh, of Deloitte, said. “So in all of them, you’re going to be able to find a point in time where there was an issue that needed to be fixed. And you can also find millions of people every day who are getting benefits through these systems.”
In February, Georgia officials were discussing a high-priority change request to resolve an ongoing problem: A defect affected potentially tens of thousands of “cases/claims” for families in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program that, among other problems, led the state to recoup some residents’ entire benefit, according to state documents KFF Health News obtained from a public records request. The programs provide monthly cash assistance to low-income people for food and housing. Georgia in 2014 inked a contract with Deloitte to build and maintain its eligibility system, known as Georgia Gateway.
Federal regulations cap how much money the government can recoup if a SNAP recipient was overpaid at 20% or $20, whichever is higher, according to legal aid attorneys and SNAP experts.
“We have plenty of clients who, that is their entire grocery budget,” said Adrianne Freeman, deputy director for litigation and advocacy at the Georgia Legal Services Program.
The defect — which Georgia DHS’ Brown said was identified on April 29, 2022 — created several problems, including incorrect calculations of how much to recoup and clawbacks not occurring on the correct start dates. “The Gateway system did not consistently adjust or apply the recoupment amount correctly,” Brown said.
A fix was deployed the weekend of Feb. 17, the documents state, but a formal change request was needed to “allow the State Agency (SA) to correctly apply allotment reductions to all SNAP and TANF cases impacted by Defect 21068,” the documents state. The change order would allow state officials to run an automated one-time mass update to fully resolve the problem.
The target date for doing so: March 1. That was nearly two years after officials were provided an “original report” noting that more than 25,000 cases may have been affected, the documents state.
Relying on Workarounds
States often face constraints on how many changes can be made in a year. In Texas, there is a years-long waitlist for changes, according to advocates, state documents, and the state health agency. “The system isn’t nimble enough to meet the needs and often relies really heavily on manual workarounds,” said Stacey Pogue, a senior research fellow at Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms with expertise on Medicaid in Texas.
Texas eligibility workers use workarounds to process applications while awaiting permanent fixes. Deloitte said in its $295 million Texas contract that “there is a real need” for workarounds, which allow operations to continue “without affecting client benefits.”
Many of these “temporary” fixes were implemented years ago and were still in use in 2023, according to records obtained by KFF Health News that found 45 active workarounds in Texas last year. In one instance, a workaround was implemented nearly 14 years ago. Deloitte acknowledged in its Texas contract that reducing workarounds “is one of the top priorities.”
Smith of Deloitte said it doesn’t always take months to fix a problem: “We have changes that get implemented in a day and changes that get implemented in a month.”
Further, Smith said, Deloitte “is one part of implementing a change,” noting “we’re often not necessarily the constraint.”
The state considers several factors when assessing which fixes to tackle first, including how many beneficiaries are affected. The more complex the workaround, “the longer it may take for staff to process eligibility,” said Jennifer Ruffcorn, a spokesperson for Texas Health and Human Services.
In Florida — in addition to the lapses in coverage for maternal care — the National Health Law Program and the Florida Health Justice Project alleged in their lawsuit in federal court that notices to Medicaid beneficiaries alerting them their benefits would be terminated did not explain the basis for the decision.
In October, about a month after the lawsuit was filed, the state asked Deloitte to provide an estimate to alter the notices, Kallumkal of Deloitte testified at trial in August.
Deloitte estimated it would need roughly 28,000 hours, he said. That’s more than twice the 12,600 hours the state sets aside each year to pay Deloitte for revisions. The extra hours would require an amended contract in which the state would have to agree to pay more. Florida’s Department of Children and Families did not respond to requests for comment.
For Deloitte, extra hours mean more revenue, Kallumkal acknowledged during his testimony while under cross-examination. Deloitte subsequently provided the state with a new estimate for a narrower scope of work that would take 12,000 hours, he said.
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For Dr. Kate Sowerwine, chief medical officer at Recuro Health, a telemedicine technology and services company, her journey into medicine was deeply influenced by the challenges her mother faced while managing her diabetes. Witnessing her struggle to navigate a complex and often overwhelming healthcare system left a lasting impression on Sowerwine.
Her mother encountered multiple barriers – from understanding her condition to accessing necessary medications – and often found herself without the support she needed. There were times when she had to go without medication simply because there was no one to help her navigate the healthcare system.
This experience sparked a passion within Sowerwine to become the kind of healthcare provider who could bridge these gaps and offer the guidance and care her mother, and so many others, desperately needed.
As she progressed in her medical career, Sowerwine found tremendous fulfillment in caring for patients, helping them understand their health, and guiding them through the steps they needed to take to improve their overall wellbeing.
Her work in her in-person specialty clinic has been incredibly rewarding, but she soon recognized the potential to expand her impact through telemedicine. By growing this aspect of her practice, she has been able to stay connected with patients in a way that transcends geographical boundaries, ensuring they receive the continuity of care they need.
In the time she’s been with Recuro Health, the company has transformed from focusing on urgent care telemedicine to offering a full spectrum of services, including urgent care, behavioral health, virtual primary care, and at-home labs and diagnostic ordering.
Healthcare IT News sat down with Sowerwine to discuss how telehealth is helping combat healthcare disparities, how it is aiding healthcare advocacy, how it is boosting behavioral healthcare, and how at-home labs work and are related to telemedicine.
Q. How is telehealth helping combat healthcare disparities today?
A. Telehealth is a powerful tool in addressing healthcare disparities, especially for patients who face challenges such as limited transportation or resources.
African Americans, in particular, encounter significant health disparities, including higher rates of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and stroke compared with their Caucasian counterparts. Social factors such as unemployment, poverty and limited access to medical care contribute to these disparities.
For example, African Americans are 30% more likely to die from heart disease and are less likely to have their blood pressure under control. These statistics underscore the urgent need for solutions that can bridge these gaps and provide equitable care.
Women are disproportionately affected by disparities in the healthcare system as well, facing unique challenges that can lead to delayed diagnoses, inadequate treatment and overall poorer health outcomes. Conditions like heart disease may present differently in women, yet the standard diagnostic and treatment protocols often are based on male physiology.
These disparities highlight the critical need for access to more tailored, equitable healthcare solutions that address the specific needs of women of all backgrounds.
Virtual systems are designed to address these challenges in a way that is customized for the patient by offering comprehensive and inclusive healthcare options. Recuro’s telehealth provides a variety of services, including virtual primary care, behavioral health, and strategic diagnostic at-home labs, while coordinating care with a diverse group of dedicated primary care physicians and behavioral health clinicians.
This inclusive approach ensures that patients receive continuous and personalized care, helping to manage chronic conditions and improve overall health outcomes. By leveraging technology, we make advanced and inclusive healthcare accessible to those facing significant barriers.
Through our commitment to quality care and continuous innovation, telemedicine is making a meaningful impact on reducing healthcare disparities. By expanding telehealth services, we can reach and support more individuals, particularly those at higher risk for chronic conditions. Our dedication to bridging gaps in care not only improves individual health outcomes but also contributes to a more equitable healthcare landscape for all.
Q. You suggest telehealth is aiding healthcare advocacy. Please elaborate.
A. This is precisely the care my mother needed when I saw her challenges with diabetes. Telehealth is not just about providing remote care; it’s also a crucial tool in healthcare advocacy, helping patients navigate a complex and often confusing healthcare system. I don’t want to see another person affected by these challenges like my mother.
The stress affected not only her at home but also at her workplace. In telehealth, we recognize that many people struggle with understanding their healthcare benefits and accessing the care they need in a timely manner. These challenges often lead to lost productivity on the job and increased stress as individuals take time out of their workday to deal with healthcare issues, not to mention the weight on home life.
In fact, it’s estimated these challenges result in an annual loss of $21.6 billion in productivity across the workforce. However, through telehealth and our comprehensive health advocacy services, we offer a system that saves time, reduces costs, and alleviates stress for both patients and employers.
One of the key components of our telehealth platform is access to health advocates. These professionals are trained to assist patients in navigating the intricacies of the healthcare system, from understanding their insurance coverage to resolving complex clinical and administrative issues.
For instance, many patients face challenges such as bill negotiation and payment arrangements, which can be overwhelming and stressful. Health advocates step in to help manage these concerns, ensuring patients receive the care they need without unnecessary financial burden. By doing so, we not only improve patient satisfaction but also contribute to better health outcomes.
Surveys have shown a significant disconnect between employers’ perceptions of their employees’ understanding of healthcare benefits and the reality. While 88% of employers believe their workers clearly understand their benefits, only 35% of employees feel the healthcare system is easy to navigate.
This gap highlights the importance of health advocacy, which provides the support that 70% of employees say they lack when it comes to understanding their healthcare. By guiding patients through their healthcare options and addressing any challenges that arise, health advocates help prevent care complications, delayed treatments and increased healthcare costs – all of which can lead to poorer health outcomes.
By equipping individuals who are just like my mom with the tools to navigate the healthcare system confidently, we foster a proactive and informed approach to health, ultimately leading to better outcomes and a more efficient use of healthcare resources. Health advocacy services are essential and ensure that patients are not only receiving the best possible care but are empowered to take control of their health journey.
Q. How is telemedicine boosting behavioral healthcare?
A.Telehealth is revolutionizing behavioral healthcare by providing greater access to mental health services, addressing a critical need in today’s society. With the rise of the remote working economy post-pandemic and the growing number of Americans working independently, traditional healthcare models often fall short of meeting the needs of this new way of life for the average American, particularly in the area of mental health.
Virtual behavioral health has emerged as a modern solution, offering a comprehensive healthcare delivery system with robust access to mental health services. This digital approach is particularly effective in reaching those who may otherwise struggle to access care due to cost, time constraints or geographic barriers.
Behavioral health issues have become more prevalent, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which only exacerbated existing mental health challenges in America. As stigmas around mental health decrease, more people are seeking help, yet many still face difficulties in accessing timely and affordable care.
The demand for behavioral health services has outpaced the availability of providers, highlighting the vulnerabilities within our healthcare system. Telehealth addresses these gaps by offering on-demand access to a range of mental health professionals, including psychiatrists, psychologists and licensed therapists.
For example, our approach to virtual behavioral health is designed to meet patients where they are, providing personalized, holistic care accessible anytime, anywhere. Our platform enables continuous care through services such as medication management, mental health assessments, screenings and even pharmacogenetic testing to ensure the proper medications are prescribed.
By integrating these services into our care model, we not only improve access but also enhance the quality of care, leading to better patient outcomes. This is especially beneficial for remote workers and others in nontraditional employment, who may lack the comprehensive benefits typically offered by in-person employers.
Telemedicine is helping to address the mental health crisis in America, offering support for individuals and families as they navigate their healthcare journeys. Virtual technologies are not just about providing care – they are about improving their quality of life, and fostering a healthier, more resilient population.
Q. Please describe at-home labs, how they work, and how they’re related to telemedicine? Are they in wide use today?
A. At-home labs are a vital component of modern telemedicine, offering patients the convenience of conducting important health screenings from the comfort of their own homes. For instance, we’ve integrated these labs into our virtual healthcare platform to empower both patients and physicians.
By allowing patients to complete lab tests at home, we eliminate the need for time-consuming trips to a clinic, enabling a more proactive approach to health management.
These diagnostic tests are crucial for early detection and prevention, particularly for conditions like cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and obesity. Globally, the aging population is increasing the chance of developing this wide range of illnesses – accounting for almost 1.5 billion people.
Sadly, that does not change the reality that an estimated 85,980 adolescents and young adults between the ages of 15 to 39 were diagnosed with cancer in the United States in 2023. With the ability to identify potential health risks at an early stage, patients can begin treatment when it is most effective and less costly.
This not only improves outcomes but can also save lives. For example, detecting certain types of cancer early through at-home lab tests can prevent the disease from advancing to a stage where treatment becomes more difficult and expensive.
Telemedicine amplifies the benefits of at-home labs by seamlessly connecting patients with their healthcare providers. Once a patient completes an at-home test, the results are quickly available to their virtual doctor, who then can interpret the data and recommend next steps.
This streamlined process ensures patients receive timely, informed care without the delays often associated with traditional healthcare settings. Additionally, the convenience of telehealth means patients are more likely to keep up with regular screenings and check-ups, which are key to maintaining long-term health.
By making these essential services more accessible and convenient, we’re helping to reduce the burden on patients and ensuring they have the tools they need to manage their health effectively. This proactive care model is not just about treating illness; it’s about preventing it and ensuring a healthier future for our patients.
Today, at-home labs are becoming more widely used and accepted as a vital component of telemedicine. They offer a practical solution for managing chronic conditions, monitoring ongoing health concerns and conducting routine screenings.
As part of a broader shift toward virtual care, these labs are helping to democratize healthcare, ensuring more people have access to the diagnostics they need without the barriers traditionally associated with in-person visits.
Follow Bill’s HIT coverage on LinkedIn: Bill Siwicki Email him: bsiwicki@himss.org Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.
The COVID-19 pandemic affected how and why we exercise. Read about peoples’ new motivations for exercise and how exercise can benefit your mental health.
Last year our home insurance policy with Saga cost £440. This year’s quote was for an astronomical £4,730.
Its representative was astonished by the increase, stating that in “over 25 years in the business I have never seen an increase like that”. However, despite him going back to the underwriter, it remained.
No reason was given for the increase. We live in a small rural community and, as far as I know, we haven’t had a spate of burglaries or flooding in the village.
My house is the same house as last year. We have occupied it for more than 36 years and in recent years have spent considerable sums upgrading our wiring, plumbing and maintaining the roof and chimney heads.
Any help explaining this would be greatly appreciated.
IM, Fintry
At a time when industry data suggests that the cost of home insurance is falling after a period of sustained inflation, this is a jaw-dropping figure.
When I asked Saga to explain, it said: “The previous underwriter has revised its underwriting criteria and no longer accepts older properties in flood-risk areas.
“We have therefore provided the cheapest premium from the remaining underwriters on the panel. Given the age of the property, and flood risk, only two were willing to provide a quote, and we have selected the cheapest. We recognise this is significantly higher; however, it is based on the latest view of the risk from our panel.”
The backdrop is soaring payouts linked to adverse weather, with the Association of British Insurers flagging that claims for weather-related damage to homes hit £144m in the second quarter of this year. It called for “urgent government action to tackle surface water flooding and maintain flood investments and maintenance”.
You are stunned by this. Taking a view on period properties is one thing, but to have wet feet, you say the whole swath of central Scotland would have to be under water. In the end you secured a new policy elsewhere for just under £800 – still almost double the previous year. A worrying sign for homeowners.
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Many doctors say it is too dangerous to perform the common surgeries on people with high body mass indexes, but patients say they are facing discrimination.
MEDFORD, Ore. — Attorneys representing both living and deceased patients of an Oregon hospital filed a $303 million lawsuit against the facility on Tuesday after a nurse was accused of replacing prescribed fentanyl with nonsterile tap water in intravenous drips.
The wrongful death and medical malpractice complaint accuses Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center in Medford of negligence. The suit says the hospital failed to monitor medication administration procedures and prevent drug diversion by their employees, among other claims.
A spokesperson said the hospital had no comment.
Dani Marie Schofield, RN, a former nurse at the hospital, was arrested in June and charged with 44 counts of second-degree assault. The charges stemmed from a police investigation into the theft and misuse of controlled substances that resulted in patient infections. She has pleaded not guilty.
Schofield is not named or listed as a defendant in the complaint filed Tuesday. A separate suit was filed against Schofield and the hospital earlier this year on behalf of the estate of a 65-year-old man who died.
The 18 plaintiffs in the new suit include nine patients and the estates of nine patients who died. According to the suit, the hospital began informing them in December that an employee had replaced fentanyl with tap water, causing bacterial infections.
“All Plaintiff Patients were infected with bacterium uniquely associated with waterborne transmission,” the complaint says.
All of the plaintiffs experienced mental anguish, according to the suit, which seeks millions of dollars in damages for medical expenses, lost income, and the pain and suffering of those who died.
Medford police began investigating late last year, after hospital officials noticed a troubling spike in central line infections from July 2022 through July 2023 and told police they believed an employee had been diverting fentanyl.
Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that has helped fuel the nation’s overdose epidemic, but it is also used in legitimate medical settings to relieve severe pain. Drug theft from hospitals is a longstanding problem.
“I started thinking that I could build an AI therapist using the ChatGPT API and tweak it to meet the specifications for a therapist,” she said. “It increases accessibility to therapy by providing free and confidential therapy, an AI rather than a human, and removing stigma around getting help for people who don’t want to speak with a human.”
In theory, AI could be used to help meet the rising need for mental health options and the lack of mental health professionals to meet those needs. “Accessibility is simply a matter of a mismatch in supply and demand,” Iyer told BuzzFeed News. “Technically, the supply of AI could be infinite.”
In a 2021 study published in the journal SSM Population Health that included 50,103 adults, 95.6% of people reported at least one barrier to healthcare such as the inability to pay for it. People with mental health challenges seemed to be especially affected by barriers to healthcare, including cost, expert shortage, and stigma.
One advantage of AI is that a program can translate into 95 languages in a matter of seconds.
“Em’s users are from all over the world, and since ChatGPT translates into several languages, I’ve noticed people using their native language to communicate with Em, which is super useful,” Brendle said.
Another advantage is that, although AI can’t provide true emotional empathy, it also can’t judge you, Brendle said.
“AI tends to be nonjudgmental from my experience, and that opens a philosophical door to the complexity of human nature,” Brendle said. “Though a therapist presents as nonjudgmental, as humans we tend to be anyways.”
Here’s when AI shouldn’t be used as an option
However, mental health experts warn that AI may do more harm than good for people looking for more in-depth information, who need medication options, or in a crisis.
“Having predictable control over these AI models is something that is still being worked on, and so we don’t know what unintended ways AI systems could make catastrophic mistakes,” Iyer said. “Since these systems don’t know true from false or good from bad, but simply report what they’ve previously read, it’s entirely possible that AI systems will have read something inappropriate and harmful and repeat that harmful content to those seeking help. It is way too early to fully understand the risks here.”
People on TikTok are also saying that adjustments should be made to the online tool — for example, the AI chat could provide more helpful feedback in its responses, they say.
“ChatGPT is often reluctant to give a definitive answer or make a judgment about a situation that a human therapist might be able to provide,” Kyla said. “Additionally, ChatGPT somewhat lacks the ability to provide a new perspective to a situation that a user may have overlooked before that a human therapist might be able to see.”
While some psychiatrists think ChatGPT could be a useful way to learn more about medications, it shouldn’t be the only step in treatment.
“It may be best to consider asking ChatGPT about medications like you would look up information on Wikipedia,” Torous said. “Finding the right medication is all about matching it to your needs and body, and neither Wikipedia or ChatGPT can do that right now. But you may be able to learn more about medications in general so you can make a more informed decision later on.”
There are other alternatives including calling 988, a free crisis hotline. Crisis hotlines have calling and messaging options available for people who can’t find mental health resources in their area or don’t have the financial means to connect in person. In addition, there is the Trevor Project hotline, SAMHSA’s National Helpline, and others.
“There are really great and accessible resources like calling 988 for help that are good options when in crisis,” Torous said. “Using these chatbots during a crisis is not recommended as you don’t want to rely on something untested and not even designed to help when you need help the most.”
The mental health experts we talked to said, AI therapy might be a useful tool for venting emotions, but until more improvements are made, it can’t outperform human experts.
“Right now, programs like ChatGPT are not a viable option for those looking for free therapy. They can offer some basic support, which is great, but not clinical support,” Torous said. “Even the makers of ChatGPT and related programs are very clear not to use these for therapy right now.”
