Billing for Telehealth Encounters AN INTRODUCTORY GUIDE ON FEE-FOR-SERVICE January 2020 INTRODUCTION Among the most frequent questions raised regarding telehealth is how an encounter is billed. According to the American Hospital Association, “76 percent of U.S. hospitals connect with patients and consulting practitioners at a distance through the use...

A patient’s ‘circle of care’ can include relatives, friends, a spiritual adviser or the pharmacist, not just doctors, nurses, or telehealth clinicians. Technology is helping bring them all together. BRIGITTE PELLERINJanuary 3, 2020 A fresh decade means fresh ideas. Brigitte Pellerin talks to some of the local people who...

Foley & Lardner’s third state-by-state survey of telehealth coverage reports a ‘sea change’ in legislative activity to require commercial payers to reimburse providers for connected health services. By Eric Wicklund December 03, 2019 – Commercial payers are jumping – or being pulled – aboard the telehealth bandwagon, according to a...

Two years after Foley’s 2017 Telemedicine and Digital Health Survey uncovered a demand for telemedicine and digital health services, as well as coverage and reimbursement to match the growing demand, Foley explores how each state has responded in its 2019 50-State Telehealth Survey plus District of Columbia (DC) of Commercial Payer...

Medi-Cal, California’s sprawling Medicaid program, is working under new rules expanding reimbursement for telemedicine. Medi-Cal currently serves more than 13.5 million residents. Telemedicine is increasingly seen as a way to help the hard-pressed program carry out its mission while the state struggles with a growing shortage of doctors. The...

California Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed several telehealth bills, making the state among a dozen to support payment parity, store-and-forward care and telemedicine abortions.  By Eric Wicklund October 21, 2019 – A slew of telehealth bills signed this month by Governor Gavin Newsom positions California at the forefront of the connected health...

On October 11, 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a new law requiring commercial health insurance coverage and payment parity for telehealth services. The law will benefit patients by increasing access and availability to healthcare services, and catalyze the growth of telehealth technologies throughout California. California is representative of a growing...

Over the last decade, few issues in politics have been more polarizing than healthcare. It’s driven a deep wedge between Democrats and Republicans, particularly following the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the subsequent efforts to repeal it, and has caused rifts within those parties. Yet despite...

The California Department of Health Care Services (“DHCS”) recently revised its Medi-Cal telehealth policy to allow providers increased flexibility in their use of telehealth as a modality for delivering medically necessary services to their patients. The policy is retroactively effective as of July 1, 2019, and fee-for-service providers must submit claims for...

The state’s Department of Health Care Services has amended its connected health coverage guidelines to include, among other things, eConsults, asynchronous telehealth and home-based care. By Eric Wicklund August 27, 2019 – California’s Department of Health Care Services has made some significant changes to its telehealth and mHealth coverage, giving...