TELEHEALTH
ACI Alliance joined the national conversation surrounding telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that patients would have options to continue receiving health care services without physical access to medical facilities.
November 2020
American Cochlear Implant Alliance Awards Telehealth Innovation Grant to University of California San Francisco Medical Center
Continued improved outcomes for patients with expanded access to telehealth services highlighted the need for additional research on the subject. ACI Alliance put out a call for proposals which involved innovative team-based approaches incorporating elements of diagnosis, programming and/or rehabilitation.
The award is intended to facilitate the grant recipient’s preparation of a more comprehensive individualized research plan suitable for submission to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or comparable funding agency. This grant was awarded to support data collection and research that may be used to justify financial reimbursement of telehealth for CI-related services by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and other insurers. ACI Alliance reviewed each proposal thoroughly using a robust NIH-style review.
ACI Alliance is pleased to announce the award of a one-time grant to the Douglas Grant Cochlear Implant Center at University of California San Francisco Medical Center (UCFS) to study “The Development of a Cloud-Based System for Remote Cochlear Implant Programming and Speech Perception Testing.”
The grant was awarded to Colleen Polite PhD, Senior Audiologist and Assistant Director of the Douglas Grant Cochlear Implant Center at University of California San Francisco Medical Center (serving as Principal Investigator for the grant) and Charles Limb MD, also of UCSF. The proposed research focuses on a model of remote programming and CI speech perception testing. The tele-visit would take place in the patient’s home with the vision of ultimately creating a cloud-based system for remote cochlear implant programming and speech perception testing.
Read our press release here.
SEPTEMBER 2020
American Cochlear Implant Alliance Submits Comments to CMS on Expanded Telehealth Services
ACI Alliance formally submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) encouraging CMS to add cochlear implant services to their list of expanded telehealth services after the Public Health Emergency is ended.
ACI Alliance found that outcomes for cochlear implant (CI) patients had been maintained or even improved while receiving telehealth services, and that telehealth also addresses the ability to serve those who have limited access to specialized providers in their community such as cochlear implant clinicians who may not exist in many rural or lower socio-economic communities. Cochlear implant clinicians also reported improved outcomes with telehealth as patients are more compliant about attending appointments.
Read our full comments here.
Read our press release here.
