Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai called telehealth investments and advancements the “silver lining” of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic at a May 6 Brookings Institution webinar. “The future is very bright for telehealth,” Pai said at the event, “and if we can take one silver lining of this dismal time is that we are […]
HHS and OCR have issued several COVID-19 HIPAA waivers around telehealth and data sharing amid the pandemic. But it’s crucial providers keep privacy and security in focus. The nationwide public health emergency brought on by the COVID-19 outbreak has led to several Good Faith HIPAA waivers from the Department of Health and Human Services and […]
You may be hearing some new words thrown around due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Terms like telehealth, telemedicine, remote-patient monitoring (RPM), virtual care, and digital health have been around for years, but the recent situation is accelerating patient awareness and physician adoption of these technologies. With a growing need for social isolation, healthcare organizations are actively seeking ways to provide […]
Telehealth has long faced a number of obstacles to widespread adoption. Beyond a number of operational and clinical hurdles, widespread implementation of telehealth has been hindered by various legal and regulatory barriers. The COVID-19 pandemic and the unprecedented limitations on in-person healthcare delivery, however, have led to a flurry of state and federal emergency healthcare […]
The Health and Human Services Department is issuing $20 million in COVID-19 funds to four telehealth programs for pediatric and maternal care and two efforts to expand interstate license portability. Federal officials have awarded $20 million to four healthcare providers and two organizations to improve telehealth outreach during the COVID-19 pandemic – including efforts to […]
On April 30, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a second round of sweeping regulatory waivers and rule changes in an effort to expand care to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries and give greater flexibility to hospitals, other providers and suppliers furnishing services to Medicare beneficiaries as America responds to the COVID-19 pandemic and […]
Doctors relying on eased telehealth rules to treat patients during the pandemic could face familiar obstacles to remote treatment when enforcement of security and privacy requirements return. Chatting with physicians online has drastically expanded during the pandemic via video-conferencing apps such as Google Meet, Zoom, Skype, and Apple FaceTime. That was more difficult when privacy […]
Telehealth. It’s no longer just a nice-to-have, but instead a must-have for patients and healthcare professionals alike during these uncertain times the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about. While we all wish that it hadn’t taken a pandemic to propel telehealth forward, for better or for worse, it has. The spotlight is now on telehealth in […]
If you are looking for financial assistance in providing telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic, a newly created $200 million government program may be able to help defray the costs of continuing to provide care to patients remotely. Featured updates: COVID-19 The COVID-19 Telehealth Program is part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is taking applications […]
The Federal Communications Commission has approved four waves of COVID-19 telehealth program applications, funneling more than $13.6 million in funding to healthcare providers across the U.S. Under the $200 million program, part of the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, hospitals and health centers can apply for up to $1 million to cover […]
Highlights Telehealth has long faced a number of obstacles to widespread adoption. Beyond a number of operational and clinical hurdles, widespread implementation of telehealth has been hindered by various legal and regulatory barriers. The COVID-19 pandemic and the unprecedented limitations on in-person healthcare delivery, however, have led to a flurry of state and federal emergency […]
As the COVID-19 emergency continues to heavily impact the U.S. and its health care system, CMS has issued additional flexibilities for providers and payors seeking to respond to the pandemic. These new flexibilities are described both in revisions to CMS’ blanket waivers and in a new Interim Final Rule with comment period, both issued on April 30. Many of […]
Since early March 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released a steady stream of guidance to Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs) and Part D sponsors in connection with the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. CMS recently compiled much of this guidance in a memorandum published on April 21, 2020, which revised prior guidance released on March 10, 2020. […]
CMS issued a another round of sweeping regulatory rollbacks Thursday that will temporarily change how some providers care for patients and get compensated during the ongoing pandemic. Practitioners such as therapists previously restricted from providing telehealth services for reimbursement can now do so, and CMS is also upping payments for telephone-only telehealth visits. Accountable care organizations also scored […]
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has introduced a new crop of temporary regulatory flexibilities in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) in the form of new blanket waivers, implementing guidance related to provisions of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Support Act (CARES Act) regarding rural health clinics (RHCs) and federally […]