Telemedicine Group Asks CMS to Make Changes to Accountable Care Rules
As reported by iHealthBeat on Tuesday, April 26th:
The American Telemedicine Association is asking CMS to waive certain Medicare telehealth regulations in the recently proposed rules governing accountable care organizations, Modern Physician reports.
In a letter to CMS Administrator Donald Berwick, the association said CMS’ proposed ACO regulations included “restriction-riddled” telehealth rules, which among other things would not allow Medicare reimbursement for more than 12 telehealth-aided services, including analysis of computer-based clinical data and hospital discharge services (Carlson, Modern Physician, 4/25).
The association proposed five changes to the rules that would allow:
- Videoconferencing services for the 35 million Medicare beneficiaries living in metropolitan areas;
- Medical images to be stored and forwarded for beneficiaries who reside outside Alaska or Hawaii;
- Physicians to judge when use of telehealth is appropriate;
- Home-based videoconferencing services; and
- Therapy services otherwise covered under Medicare to be delivered via telehealth services (Monegain, Healthcare IT News, 4/26).