The Acute Hospital Care at Home program would allow participating hospitals to qualify for Medicare waivers to treat patients at home via telehealth, reducing the strain on EDs and in-patient services. By Eric Wicklund November 25, 2020 – Six health systems across the country are expanding their telehealth platform to treat patients at home under a new program […]
Hospital visit recovery across key metrics is still down compared to pre-pandemic levels, and new consumer research suggests volumes could stay low as patients prefer telehealth services. By Jacqueline LaPointe November 25, 2020 – Hospital visit recovery may be hitting another bump in the road as new consumer research indicates that patients prefer telehealth services and other alternative […]
CMS released the 2021 physician fee schedule Dec. 1 with expanded telehealth services, remote physiologic monitoring updates and an extension for telecommunications tech supervision. Seven takeaways: 1. CMS clarified its payment policies related to the remote physiologic monitoring services for CPT codes 99453, 99454, 99091, 99457 and 99458, which were finalized in recent years. These services include remote monitoring of weight, […]
Fact sheet Dec 01, 2020 On December 1, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule that includes updates on policy changes for Medicare payments under the Physician Fee Schedule (PFS), and other Medicare Part B issues, on or after January 1, 2021. The calendar year (CY) 2021 PFS final […]
Today the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the annual Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) final rule, prioritizing CMS’ investment in primary care and chronic disease management by increasing payments to physicians and other practitioners for the additional time they spend with patients, especially those with chronic conditions. The rule allows non-physician practitioners to […]
The Medicare home health benefit does not currently permit the inclusion of telehealth services as a reimbursable service as part of the plan of care. Despite this, many home health agencies (HHAs) have found great value for their patients in including telehealth as part of care delivery and do so despite the lack of reimbursement. […]
Lightened telehealth regulations have expanded access to virtual visits for therapy and other mental health services. But many patients still aren’t having their needs met. By ELISE REUTER Post a comment / Nov 19, 2020 at 8:50 PM Worries about rising Covid-19 cases, a challenging presidential transition, and growing inequities are crushing people across the U.S. COVID-19 pandemic […]
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Monday touted several tools designed to help states rebalance their long-term care ecosystem toward home- and community-based services. The development is the latest in a series of CMS efforts aimed at strengthening home- and community-based services amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with the ultimate goal of […]
Medicare dramatically expanded benefits for remote health care in response to COVID-19. Here’s what you need to know. Walecia Konrad November 20, 2020 Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This may influence which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a […]
Most physicians at the American Medical Association‘s virtual special meeting of its House of Delegates agreed that expanding access to telemedicine during the pandemic benefited patients and practices alike — saving at least one from bankruptcy. In a recent AMA poll, 60% said that telehealth has improved the health of their patients. Yet delegates struggled to craft […]
A bill introduced this week would permanently extend Medicare coverage for telehealth services delivered by physical and occupational therapists, speech and language pathologists and audiologists. By Eric Wicklund November 18, 2020 – A group of lawmakers has introduced a bill that would ensure Medicare coverage for telehealth services provided by physical and occupational therapists, audiologists and speech and […]
Legislation expands practitioners eligible for Medicare reimbursement for telehealth services WASHINGTON, DC — Representatives Mike Sherrill (NJ-11), Rep. David McKinley (WV-01), Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), Rep. Denver Riggleman (VA-05), Rep. Joyce Beatty (OH-03), Rep. Andre Carson (IN-07), Rep. Glenn Thompson (PA-15), Rep. Andy Kim (NJ-03), Rep. Joseph Morelle (NY-25), Rep. Bobby Rush (IL-01), Rep. Albio Sires […]
The Federal Communications Commission released a public notice announcing the application window for its Connected Care Pilot Program is now open and will close December 7. As we previously wrote, the $100 million, three-year Connected Care Pilot Program is designed to offset eligible healthcare providers’ costs for providing certain connected care services, particularly to treat low-income Americans and […]
The HHS Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) published its intent to review some key measures the Federal government made in response to COVID-19. Those key measures include the Medicare program’s telehealth policy changes and oversight of funds disbursed to providers under the CARES Act and the Provider Relief Fund (“PRF”). While the OIG’s review focuses on the […]