Alliance member Kathy Duckett, MSN, BSN, RN, is featured in the July/August issue of Home Healthcare Now with the article Telemedicine Today: Integral to Healthcare. The piece explores how telemedicine improves patient outcomes, reduces hospitalizations, and expands care access in home care and hospice settings. The publication underscores the importance of virtual care tools in today’s healthcare environment. Kathy Duckett’s work highlights the innovation and clinical expertise found within Alliance membership. Recognition in a national journal brings positive attention to the home care field and elevates the conversation around telehealth integration.

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What is Telemedicine?
Telemedicine has been part of healthcare for decades, covering services like digital health, telehealth, and mHealth. Its goals are to deliver accessible, high-quality, and equitable care, improve outcomes, reduce burdens on staff and patients, cut costs, and create new revenue streams. Simply put, telemedicine is healthcare delivered through technology, connecting providers and patients remotely.

Why Use Telemedicine?
Research shows telemedicine improves patient outcomes and reduces unnecessary hospital visits — critical for home care and hospice. Traditionally, home care has used telehealth tools such as remote patient monitoring (RPM) to track chronic conditions. Today, RPM is expanding to include real-time physiological monitoring and interventions.

Telemedicine in Home Care and Hospice
Home care agencies often use telemedicine with high-risk patients — those with heart failure, diabetes, COPD, or hypertension. Programs now cover SNF-at-home, medication management, pain control, and hospital-at-home models. Virtual visits allow providers to assess patients’ conditions in real time and provide immediate guidance or intervention.

Key Benefits

• Improved access to care
• Timely interventions and education
• Reduced hospital admissions
• Support for in-home and hospice patients

Virtual visits, combined with traditional care, offer a flexible, cost-effective way to manage patient needs, blending in-person care with technology. As telemedicine evolves, it’s becoming a vital component of business strategy for home care and hospice agencies.