{"id":26904,"date":"2020-04-07T18:55:21","date_gmt":"2020-04-07T18:55:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.mtelehealth.com\/?p=26904"},"modified":"2020-04-07T18:55:21","modified_gmt":"2020-04-07T18:55:21","slug":"physician-groups-say-decision-by-cms-to-pay-for-patient-visits-via-telephone-will-help-revenue-strapped-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drmiltie.com\/at-home-testing\/physician-groups-say-decision-by-cms-to-pay-for-patient-visits-via-telephone-will-help-revenue-strapped-practices\/","title":{"rendered":"Physician groups say decision by CMS to pay for patient visits via telephone will help revenue-strapped practices"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Major physician groups said the decision by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to start paying physicians for patient visits that take place by telephone will help physician practices stay open by providing them with needed revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among a series of regulatory changes<\/a> announced by CMS Monday night in reaction to the coronavirus pandemic was the decision to begin paying for visits that take place by audio telephone only. Previously, CMS had agreed to pay for virtual visits only if physicians used both audio and video feeds<\/a> via traditional telehealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many physician practices, forced to cancel routine patient visits to keep patients home and avoid potential exposure to the coronavirus, said they were swamped with phone calls from patients. While they could offer advice, they were typically not paid by CMS<\/a> for these calls with Medicare and Medicaid patients. Losing revenue from regular patient visits to their offices, some doctors worried they would not be able to keep their doors open<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting Ahead of the Curve: Insights from COVID-19\u2019s Frontlines<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The American College of Physicians (ACP), the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) were among the groups commending CMS for making the change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are glad that CMS heard our concerns about physician practices. The changes announced by CMS yesterday will help practices by providing them with revenue to keep their practices open as the move away from in-person visits to virtual ones,\u201d said<\/a> Robert McLean, M.D., ACP president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe change to allow Medicare to begin paying for telephone visits is particularly important. This will benefit the many Medicare patients who only have a landline or audio-only phones. It\u2019s critical that we continue to treat those patients while keeping them home as much as possible while we\u2019re facing the threat of COVID-19,” McLean said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CMS announced it is enabling Medicare to cover more than 80 telehealth services and allows providers to bill for telehealth visits at the same rate as in-person visits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDuring the public health emergencies, individuals can use interactive apps with audio and video capabilities to visit with their clinician for an even broader range of services,\u201d CMS said. \u201cProviders also can evaluate beneficiaries who have audio phones only.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the change allowing payment for patient visits via telephone, CMS said clinicians can provide remote patient monitoring services to patients with acute and chronic conditions and for patients with only one disease. For instance, it will allow for remote monitoring of a patient\u2019s oxygen level using a pulse oximeter. Additionally, physicians and other healthcare professionals will be allowed to be paid in advance by Medicare for claims for services expected to be submitted later in the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other changes include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n