In a blog post, CMS Administrator Seema Verma said the agency needs to assess telehealth reimbursement rates considering such significant uptake of virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic. July 21, 2020 – Telehealth reimbursement rates is one area CMS is assessing in order to make Medicare telehealth expansions permanent after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the agency’s […]
U.S. House Ways and Means Committee Republicans on Monday unveiled a discussion draft for a bill that would expand the availability of telehealth services under the Medicare program. Patients and stakeholders want to know if temporary waivers issued by Congress and the administration to expand telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic will become a permanent part […]
A letter signed by more than 40 members of Congress calls on FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to provide details on the recently closed COVID-19 Telehealth Program – and asks how much he would need to continue the program By Eric Wicklund July 22, 2020 – Dozens of lawmakers are looking to revive the Federal Communications Commission’s COVID-19 Telehealth […]
New legislation introduced this week would expand access to telehealth options for rural residents. The KEEP Telehealth Options Act would require the federal government to study the actions taken to expand access to telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic and report on how to improve those services. The bill was introduced by Senator Deb Fischer, […]
CMS is proposing changes to the Medicare End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Prospective Payment System (PPS) that would encourage the use of telehealth and mHealth platforms and tools to expand dialysis treatment to the home. By Eric Wicklund July 21, 2020 – Federal officials are throwing support behind telehealth and mHealth platform that would help providers extend dialysis treatment […]
Organizations and experts offer insights and predictions about what lies ahead post-COVID-19. KEY TAKEAWAYS Legislation proposed by the House addresses the most urgent priorities to permanently extend telehealth waivers. Clinical appropriateness, payment, and fraud are among the topics that will be explored during the next phase of telehealth expansion. Incentives to invest in technology, licensure […]
Federally qualified health centers looking to expand their telehealth footprint need to take a closer look at why their patients are having problems accessing healthcare. Transportation issues, insurance availability, home life and school and work pressures all can play a part in whether someone can or can’t visit the doctor, said Christina Quinlan, director of […]
In response to the pandemic, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued waivers permitting reimbursement for telehealth visits, the waiver of certain copayments and relaxed technology requirements. As Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., recently stated, the health care sector and government “have been forced to cram 10 years’ worth […]
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the risks for seniors who receive in-home elder care. Caregivers use masks, handwashing, and social distancing to increase the safety of home visits, but for many, reducing the frequency of visits can be a valuable piece in the puzzle of pandemic safety protocol. Especially for seniors eligible for lower level […]
The Boston-based MA FQHC Telehealth Consortium was created for Federally Qualified Health Centers to come together to master telehealth so that their patients could access quality care despite the pandemic. Before this time, FQHCs generally struggled to get telehealth off the ground because of the expense, lack of reimbursement and issues related to access. THE […]
Telehealth is transforming medicine inside and outside healthcare facilities. Due to a rapidly changing cyber world, healthcare providers and their partners are forced to keep telehealth security top-of-mind. As the COVID-19 pandemic drags on, the health industry is experiencing an eruption in online demand. Many companies are under tremendous pressure as they rush to build rapid adoption telemedicine and telehealth […]
President Donald Trump said telemedicine is a top priority for his administration and is working to make the temporary regulatory changes permanent during a July 16 news briefing. After the pandemic hit, the administration removed barriers that allowed physicians to work across state lines to provide telemedicine. It also made changes to temporarily boost reimbursement for […]
COVID-19 has made clear the importance of reducing contact between potentially infectious patients and providers – while ensuring those patients get the highest quality of care. One solution, proposed panelists at a recent HIMSS20 Digital session, lies with a robust remote patient-monitoring system inside hospital rooms. “COVID-19 has introduced quite an interesting challenge to healthcare […]
COVID-19 hit hospitals hard, leaving providers with an influx of new patients and uncertainty about how to move forward. A new commentary in Circulation: Heart Failure offers a first-hand account of how one facility faced the pandemic head-on, embracing telehealth to ensure patients with advanced heart failure (HF) received the high-quality care they deserve. “At our institution, […]
Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) is real-time or near real-time evaluation of a patient’s clinical status outside of a traditional healthcare setting. RPM leverages wireless devices (e.g., weight scale, blood pressure monitor), often integrated with a software platform, to monitor patients’ health status. Providers can use RPM to manage patients with a range of chronic conditions […]