Telehealth Initiatives During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency

The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) prompted unprecedented adoption of telehealth. To support this rapid shift to virtual care, MHCC implemented several initiatives to make available telehealth educational materials and other resources for public health and clinical practice.

Beauty Salons

Research demonstrates how beauty salons are a suitable venue for the delivery of health promotion and disease prevention within communities. The MHCC worked with over 100 salons in Baltimore City to help them inform their patrons about the latest COVID-19 protocols and the benefits of telehealth. Throughout the PHE, these salons displayed a series of MHCC public service announcement (PSA) flyers that highlighted safety measures, encouraged vaccination, and featured telehealth as a safe and convenient option to receive health care.

Telehealth Podcasts and PSA Broadcasts

The MHCC collaborated with several organizations to develop and share telehealth podcasts and broadcast a series of PSAs locally. A special thanks to AARP Maryland, the Baltimore Orioles, Giant Food Stores, LLC, and Maryland radio stations that helped share important information about evolving COVID-19 guidelines and telehealth. Roughly 90 Giant Food stores and 30 radio stations in Maryland broadcasted MHCC PSAs.

Telehealth: 5 Things You Need to Know Features an AARP Maryland representative that has used telehealth and two health care providers that provide telehealth services. To listen from your computer, click here To listen from your smartphone, click here

Online Health Care: The Future of Wellness - September 2020 The MHCC and health care providers from John Hopkins Medicine discuss how technology is changing the way health care is delivered To listen from your computer, click here. To listen from your smartphone, click here.

MHCC Web Resources and Tools

The MHCC created dedicated web pages to serve as a repository for telehealth information for both consumers and health care providers. The web pages include MHCC educational materials and links to other relevant resources.

For Consumers Understanding Telehealth – For Health Care Consumers includes informational flyers and podcasts about telehealth, including answers to frequently asked questions.

For Providers Telehealth Virtual Resource Center features guidance and tools to help practices implement or expand telehealth services. Resources span a range of topics, including best practices for virtual care, technology solutions and vendor services, cybersecurity, payer policies, patient engagement, and liability considerations.

MSO Grant Program

In May 2020, the MHCC issued a telehealth grant of up to $500,000 to State-Designated Management Service Organizations (MSOs) to provide technical support and guidance to ambulatory practices that may not have been able to adopt telehealth. The grant assisted 118 practices – about 63 primary care and 55 specialty practices – collectively serving an estimated 350,000 Marylanders. MSOs supported practices in completing a telehealth readiness assessment; provided consultation advice in selecting a telehealth solution and redesigning workflows; and educated staff on technical requirements, clinical best practices, and policy developments in response to COVID-19.