During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, we have seen a dramatic shift from in-person visits to telehealth services around the globe, unveiling what may be the new normal for providing healthcare services. Regions around the world have quickly adapted to providing telehealth services as a means to prevent possible exposure to COVID-19 and allow for critical […]
Friday, June 26th, 2020 WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 26, 2020)—The preview of the CY 2021 home health proposed rule, Medicare and Medicaid Programs; CY 2021 Home Health Prospective Payment System Rate Update; Home Health Quality Reporting Requirements; and Home Infusion Therapy Services Requirements, has been posted. The proposal is light compared to recent years’ proposed rules, but […]
Dive Brief: CMS proposed a rule on Thursday that would make looser restrictions on home health providers’ use of telehealth permanent after the pandemic. Home health agencies will be able to “continue to utilize telecommunications technologies in providing care to beneficiaries under the Medicare home health benefit beyond the COVID-19” emergency, such as remote patient […]
By Bailey Bryant | June 25, 2020 The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is proposing to make telehealth flexibilities for home health providers introduced in light of the coronavirus permanent. Yet providers would still be forced to provide the virtual care without payment. CMS detailed that proposal and others Thursday afternoon, along with its annual suggested update […]
The Community Care Cooperative is raising $5 million to provide telehealth capabilities to local health centers. Mallory Hackett, Associate Editor The Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation this week donated $1 million to support the Massachusetts-based Community Care Cooperative’s campaign to increase telehealth capacities for its network of health centers throughout the state. C3 aims to advance […]
Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule [CMS-1730-P] that proposes routine updates to the home health payment rates for calendar year (CY) 2021, in accordance with existing statutory and regulatory requirements. This proposed rule also includes a proposal to make permanent the regulatory changes related to telecommunications technologies in […]
The pandemic may have vaulted us into the future of medicine, but the leap to remote and home-based care is far from complete. by Jacquelyn BengfortTwitter The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically shifted the ways in which patients access medical care. An Epic Health Research Network study found that between mid-March and mid-April, 2020, telemedicine appointments grew at a […]
Virtual doctor visits should pay the same rate as in-office checkups even after the Covid-19 pandemic ends, telehealth advocates told a Senate health panel. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hosted a panel Wednesday to consider what recent telehealth changes to keep once the public health emergency ends. Various lawmakers including Chairman Lamar […]
COVID-19 has altered the way we live, day to day. One way it has changed us is how we access healthcare. As diabetics, we must continue to stay connected to our doctors. Telehealth has emerged, during this challenging time, as the safest and most beneficial way for diabetics to connect with their providers regularly. Since […]
A bipartisan group of 30 senators are calling on Senate leaders to permanently retain programs that expanded telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The group, led by Sens. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said Monday in a letter that certain provisions included in recent virus-related legislation that expanded telehealth offerings for Medicare beneficiaries […]
A group of U.S. Senators are calling on their colleagues in Congress and federal agencies to make permanent the increased availability of telehealth that was established temporarily to maintain continuity of care while limiting the spread of COVID-19. The lawmakers made their views known in a letter penned by Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawai) to Senate […]
Four months since the start of the public health emergency arising from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, one of the most acknowledged silver linings for providers and patients is the expanded use of telehealth. During a session on telehealth at the National Association of ACOs (NAACOS) 2020 Virtual Spring Conference, viewers were told to […]
U.S. Reps. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., and Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., introduced a bill on June 12 that would codify Medicare reimbursement for community health centers and rural health clinics for telehealth services. The Helping Ensure Access to Local TeleHealth Act would permanently extend benefits and access of telehealth to more seniors, regardless of their geographic location. The legislation […]
By Bailey Bryant | June 15, 2020 The health care sector has long had the capability to use telehealth, but it took the COVID-19 emergency to prompt widespread adoption. After three months of the crisis, emerging data is now making the sweeping rate of that adoption clearer. Seniors are among the most susceptible to the COVID-19 virus. Recently […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen, a member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), joined a bipartisan letter led by Senators Brian Schatz and Roger Wicker to Senate Leadership urging them to make permanent the provisions from the CONNECT for Health Act that were included in the CARES Act to […]