ATA applauds telehealth provisions in omnibus bill; Amazon moves closer to One Medical acquisition

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Congress has passed an omnibus appropriations bill. How does this affect telehealth? We'll start the year off right by answering that and other questions in this week's Top Stories, such as: How close is Amazon to sealing the One Medical deal? And is there a correlation between consumer ratings and privacy scores?

For more news and features from Jeff Lagasse, visit Healthcare Finance News.

In this episode:

• ATA applauds 2-year extension of telehealth flexibilities in Congressional Omnibus
• Amazon's $3.9 billion acquisition of One Medical moves a step forward
• Study: No correlation between privacy and consumer ratings for mental health apps

Talking points:

• The telehealth group's ATA Action affiliate also thanked leaders from both parties on Capitol Hill for the fact that the package also included provisions delaying the Medicare telemental health in-person requirement for two years.
• On December 28, the Health Care Market Oversight program of the OHA approved the Amazon/One Medical transaction, with conditions.
• Approval was needed because One Medical operates five clinics in the Portland area.
• A JAMA Network Open study found 77% of the apps studied featured a privacy policy, but on average those policies were written at a 12th grade reading comprehension level.

Twitter: @JELagasse
Email the writer: Jeff.Lagasse@himssmedia.com