American Telemedicine Association Accredits Upstate Concierge Medicine for Online Patient Consultations
Washington, DC (PRWEB) October 01, 2015 -- The American Telemedicine Association (ATA) has awarded its fifth Accreditation for Online Patient Consultations to Upstate Concierge Medicine, a New York State practice providing a blend of concierge and telemedicine services. In its nine months of operation, over 350 organizations have registered for the ATA program.
“The 1.25 million patients expected to receive online consultations this year need to know what services are following the proper guidelines and standards of care,” said Jonathan Linkous, CEO of ATA. “The continual entrance of new players to the game means determining what new services are clinically appropriate for telemedicine.”
Upstate Concierge Medicine offers general medical and urgent care services through telemedicine. The monthly subscription service gives patients in the state of New York unlimited, 24/7, 365 days a year access to local health care providers via telephone, text messaging, video conferencing and email.
“While Upstate Concierge Medicine's core values have and will always guide us to provide the highest security, transparency and quality care, this is an incredibly important recognition to validate these items to our community partners,” said Keith Algozzine, CEO of Upstate Concierge Medicine. “What the ATA accreditation says to our patients and organizations that partner with UCM, is that they not only get the true power of local collaborative concierge telemedicine, but also the highest nationally recognized standards."
The ATA accreditation program recognizes U.S. health care entities providing real-time, online consultations directly to the patient that meet specific standards. Designed by experts in the field, ATA’s Accreditation Program for Online Patient Consultations has been developed to establish standard criteria regarding the security of patient information, transparency in pricing and operations, qualifications and licensing of providers and clinical practices and guidelines.
In addition to providing consumers with a sense of security, ATA’s program provides benchmarks for organizations building an online practice, and provides reassurance for payers that the virtual services they are reimbursing are safe and of high quality. Accredited programs are listed clearly on SafeOnlineHealth.org, a resource to help consumers find accredited services and better understand the growing use of telecommunications in the delivery of health care.
About the American Telemedicine Association
The American Telemedicine Association, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, is the leading resource for the delivery of health care using telecommunications technologies. ATA and its diverse membership of medical institutions, professionals and health care and technology companies work together to guide the use of telemedicine to improve quality, equity and affordability of health care throughout the world. Established in 1993, ATA is headquartered in Washington, DC. For more information, visit http://www.americantelemed.org.
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Jenna Stenger, American Telemedicine Association, +1 (202) 223-1721, [email protected]
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