The public health emergency (PHE) caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in systemic changes throughout the nation’s health care system. Almost overnight, health systems, providers and the government were forced to collaborate to ‘stand up’ field hospitals, testing sites, and quarantine procedures, while postponing or cancelling certain elective procedures and ceasing in-person encounters. One […]
When Curtis Carlson started having back pain this spring, he tried to put off seeing a doctor. The COVID-19 pandemic was raging, his job at a transitional housing organization in Ukiah, Calif. was busier than ever amid the economic collapse, and a hospital seemed like the last place he wanted to be. But when he […]
On August 3, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed to permanently maintain some of the COVID-19 temporary expansions to the Medicare Telehealth List and will consider comments on other telehealth expansions. CMS already covered a limited number of medical and mental health services through telehealth. The secretary of Health and Human Services may […]
Telemedicine technology has become essential to healthcare delivery in the COVID-19 era, but concerns remain regarding whether the intimacy and communication that is central to high-quality palliative care will be compromised by the use of this technology. We employed a business model approach to identify the need for system innovation in palliative care, and a […]
We are facing a global healthcare crisis unlike any in our recent history. Within the span of a few short weeks, we saw our lives and practices drastically change. COVID-19 has fundamentally altered how medical care is delivered today and possibly for many years to come. We as clinicians need to rise to the challenge to provide […]
A new bill before Congress aims to increase funding for telehealth expansion programs that target improved broadband connectivity. The Accelerating Connected Care and Education Support Services on the Internet (ACCESS the Internet) Act, introduced this past week by Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and John Cornyn (R-TX), proposes to add $400 million to Federal Communications Commission’s COVID-19 […]
The need for virtual treatment in the midst of this pandemic is primed to rewrite the rulebook on health for years to come. With the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent nation-wide lockdowns, telehealth has been rewriting all the rules on the way healthcare has historically been conducted. Virtual health visits shot up 50% in […]
Not even six months ago, telemedicine served as a supplement to a hospital’s digital strategy. It was more of a novel offering, considered a nice-to-have or an add-on — not the norm — only used under rare and extraordinary circumstances. Of course, that was before a pandemic turned life, as we know it, on its […]
In its calendar year 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (“MPFS”) proposed rule, released August 3, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) has proposed to make permanent certain telehealth changes that have been implemented in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency (“PHE”). The proposals include: Permanent Telehealth Services Additions – Permanently adding certain services to the […]
— Any meaningful reform will require action from congress While the Trump administration has asserted that an executive order and a proposed rule issued this week will expand access to telemedicine for all Americans, outside experts say such promises won’t be realized anytime soon. The executive branch lacks the needed authority on its own, they told MedPage Today, and the […]
On August 4, CMS posted a proposed rule on CY 2021 Payment Policies, which included important updates about the expansion of Medicare covered telehealth services due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This follows on the heels of Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar’s renewal of the federal public health emergency (“PHE”) on July 23. […]
Telehealth is likely to stay in the oncology realm, even after the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic passes, according to findings of the first part of the State of the Physician Survey conducted by MJH Life Sciences, which focused on physician and patient communications in the era of COVID-19. Moreover, the findings revealed that oncologists […]
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 […]
On August 3, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a number of clarifications and proposals on remote patient monitoring (RPM) services reimbursed under the Medicare program. The changes, part of the advance copy of CMS’ proposed 2021 Physician Fee Schedule, are intended to clarify CMS’ position on how it reads and interprets […]
The White House Aug. 3 issued an executive order on “improving rural health and telehealth access.” The order includes directives to: launch a new payment model for rural health care; develop and implement a strategy to improve rural health care infrastructure; create a report describing policy initiatives to improve rural health; and propose regulation that would extend […]