[November 19, 2020]

Envision Healthcare Releases New Policy White Paper: The Future of Care Delivery

Envision Healthcare, a leading national medical group, released a new policy white paper today on the future of healthcare delivery in the United States. Drawing on its extensive experience responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and other national emergencies, Envision details a road map to strengthen the nation's healthcare system. The group's recommendations focus on making it easier for clinicians to provide care across state lines, expanding the care team model, increasing patients' access to virtual health and enhancing support for clinician mental health and well-being.

Since the start of the pandemic, Envision has been at the center of identifying and implementing cost-effective solutions to help communities in need. Having deployed hundreds of clinicians to COVID-19 hot spots around the country and rapidly expanded virtual health services in response to the pandemic, Envision is taking the best practices it has developed to advance the delivery of care in the U.S.

"Throughout the years, Envision has been there for patients and communities during some of our nation's most trying times," said Adam Brown, MBA, MD, FACEP, Emergency Medicine President and COVID-19 Task Force Co-Chair at Envision Healthcare. "From our new care team models to our expanded virtual health offerings, our physicians and advanced practice providers are making sure patients receive the right care at the right time and in the most appropriate setting. As we look to the future, we want to build upon the lessons we've learned responding to the pandemic and other crises to better support patients and make our nation's healthcare system stronger."

Envision's white paper specifies how the medical group's innovative care team models are expanding the clinical expertise of intensivist specialists - especially during a national physician shortage - and deploying clincians to provide extra support to hospitals and health systems in need. The group is increasing patients' access to care and promoting clinician and patient safety via virtual health and enhancing its mental health support to help clinicians combat the stressors of today's healthcare environment and COVID-19 pandemic.

Drawing on its expertise during national emergencies, Envision provides specific policy recommendations to overcome persistent challenges related to care team development, virtual health adoption and clinician mental health, including:

• Reforming licensing laws to make it easier for physicians to obtain licensure in multiple states and contiguous regions so they can rapidly deploy to provide high-quality care in communities that need it most
• Directing the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to incentivize care team model experimentation with an emphasis on quality and efficiency
• Easing Medicare restrictions on virtual health by allowing beneficiaries from any geographic location to access services from their homes and permanently waive enforcement of HIPAA for virtual health
• Easing prescribing in the virtual health setting, including states' regulation of clinicians' e-prescribing of controlled substances
• Mandate commercial insurance plans to provide coverage and payment parity regardless of where care was provided and expand the use of virtual health in Medicaid plans
• Supporting and participating in a systemic approach to professional well-being as described by the National Academy of Medicine consensus statement
• Eliminating "ever" or "any" language in state medical boards and hospital credentialing with regard to mental health or substance abuse diagnosis or treatment to eliminate a barrier to clinicians receiving mental health care
• Incorporating personal mental and physical health education into the curriculum of medical schools and residency programs across the country
• Supporting legislation, such as the "Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act," designed to encourage the implementation of evidence-based professional well-being programs

The full white paper is available here.

About Envision Healthcare Corporation

Envision Healthcare Corporation is a leading national medical group that delivers physician and advanced practice provider services, primarily in the areas of emergency and hospitalist medicine, anesthesiology, radiology/teleradiology, and neonatology to more than 1,800 clinical departments in healthcare facilities in 45 states and the District of Columbia. Post-acute care is delivered through an array of clinical professionals and integrated technologies which, when combined, contribute to efficient and effective population health management strategies. As a market leader in ambulatory surgical care, the medical group owns and operates 255 surgery centers in 34 states and the District of Columbia, with medical specialties ranging from gastroenterology to ophthalmology and orthopedics. In total, the medical group offers a differentiated suite of clinical solutions on a national scale with a local understanding of our communities, creating value for health systems, payers, providers, and patients. For additional information, visit www.envisionhealth.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201119005820/en/

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