With the rapid use of telehealth resulting from the pandemic, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a new toolkit to help the Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs (CHIP) accelerate their adoption of telehealth coverage during this time. The toolkit is designed to walk states through identifying policies that they will need to address […]
SEPTEMBER 9, 2020 The COVID-19 pandemic, and the corresponding need for social distancing, has catapulted telehealth into the mainstream. According to some estimates, the proportion of ambulatory patient visits using telehealth (video, phone, or e-visit) increased from 10 percent before the pandemic to more than 90 percent during the pandemic. These shifts have been buttressed by temporary […]
Proposed rule would bring new treatments, tests and medical technologies to Medicare beneficiaries faster Today, under President Trump’s leadership, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule that unleashes innovative technology so Medicare beneficiaries have access to the latest, most cutting-edge devices. Today’s action represents a step forward that will help […]
Covid-19 has seen a massive increase in the use of telemedicine. While it may seem novel, it’s actually been around for decades and research shows it’s frequently just as effective as face-to-face interventions, if not better. But how well it works for you mostly depends on your healthcare system. When it comes to telemedicine, we […]
More than half of nurse practitioners said expanding scope of practice has been instrumental in fulfilling patient access to care demands. Relaxed scope of practice restrictions and models enabling expanded telehealth use have been instrumental in helping nurse practitioners meet patient access to care needs during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new survey from the American […]
Emory Healthcare, like other systems during the pandemic, has leaned heavily on telehealth access. And now, there’s no going back. March 2020 brought about one of the biggest catalysts for care delivery change at Emory Healthcare. Telehealth access, which once was a key tool for the health system mostly on the hospital side, soon became […]
The five strategies, laid out in a recent Health Affairs blog, target barriers to telehealth adoption that go beyond reimbursement issues. By Eric Wicklund September 11, 2020 – While federal and state regulators are developing strategies to give telehealth room to grow after the coronavirus pandemic, a recent series of surveys among New York physicians suggests that growth […]
Telehealth reimbursement expansions granted during the PHE may be limited to providers in Advanced APMs moving forward to prevent program integrity issues, MedPAC said at a recent meeting. By Jacqueline LaPointe September 11, 2020 – The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) is the latest group to weigh telehealth reimbursement expansions after the COVID-19 pandemic. In a meeting held virtually last […]
Dive Brief: Members of the congressional advisory group Medicare Payment Advisory Commission agree telehealth is here to stay, but are concerned about how to improve access without also running up substantial costs in the Medicare program. The group weighed various Medicare telehealth payment policies that could become permanent after the COVID-19 public health emergency ends […]
Jackie Drees – Tuesday, September 8th, 2020 The Federal Communications Commission recently published application details on its $100 million Connected Care Pilot Program, which aims to enhance telehealth access for low-income Americans and veterans. FCC released the additional details for the program as well as application instructions on Sept. 3. The agency first introduced the Connected Care program in 2018. Five […]
Over the past five months, Congress and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have dramatically, but temporarily, expanded coverage and reimbursement for telehealth services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The changes are in effect for the duration of the Health and Human Services (HHS) Public Health Emergency (PHE). As there are significant […]
While telehealth adoption has skyrocketed during the coronavirus pandemic, the use of remote patient monitoring devices has also climbed among patients, signaling a shift that some physicians say points to the need for device insurance coverage, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Cardiology patients at Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Health Network have been increasingly turning to remote monitoring devices […]
Providers say there are a number of logistical, regulatory and educational hurdles that must be overcome for telehealth to reach its potential. After the coronavirus began spreading in the United States this past spring, telehealth patient rates shot up in response, with some health systems reporting a whopping 4,000% increase in appointment numbers for virtual […]
Among the changes announced this week include the expanded use of telehealth in Medicare, giving payment parity to hospital outpatient surgery centers, simplifying evaluation and management codes, and changing performance measures for accountable care organizations (ACOs). Among a swath of proposed policy and payment changes announced this week by the Trump administration, CMS continued its […]
The executive order would call on the Department of Health and Human Services to develop a new pilot payment model for rural hospitals, and would set up a task force to improve broadband infrastructure in rural communities. For the past few months, policymakers from the states to Congress have discussed plans to keep some of […]