Regardless of the healthcare application, LINK was built to improve access to care. With the COVID-19 pandemic, tele-health has emerged as a key tool to bring healthcare to individuals, including Medicare and Medicaid recipients around the United States. We’re fortunate that LINK was brought to the marketplace to help States meet the Federal EVV Mandate; however, there are additional invaluable ways LINK can enhance healthcare for Medicare and Medicaid recipients, including tele-health.
LINK can be deployed to providers or recipients of care. Let’s break down the advantages for both populations.
Medicaid and Medicare Recipients of Services (Patients)
The benefit is simple: access to care. LINK offers patients without reliable technology, or a method to transport themselves to their doctor’s appointments, an option to receive care. The LINK device can help offer standard doctor’s visits or check-ups for both high-risk and healthy patients.
Providers of care
Deploying the LINK device to each provider allows them to have access to tele-health and other applications without using their personal devices. Additionally, advocacy organizations could procure these LINK devices for their providers to help patients connect with their doctors using tele-health. The patients could even come to the advocacy organization to use devices if they don’t want it in the patients home – like a kiosk of sorts.
The cost of providing issued LINK devices is significantly lower than cell phone carriers’ options. LINK users get the added benefit of receiving a new phone every year, ensuring that the operating software and security controls are up-to-date. LINK offers a yearly contract per device and the contract is renewed when a new phone is issued/reissued. It’s also tax deductible as a business expense.
The industry has proven that tele-health is a key tool in improving healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in general. But without reliable technology to access tele-health, these programs (for tele-health expansion) will not work. LINK is a superior option to deploy technology in a cost-effective and secure way.