Effective for services starting March 6, 2020, and for the duration of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, Medicare will make payment for Medicare telehealth services furnished to patients in broader circumstances. These visits are considered the same as in-person visits and are paid at the same rate as regular, in-person visits.
Source: https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/medicare-telemedicine-health-care-provider-fact-sheet
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have issued a number of releases giving the green light to telehealth capabilities that were once roadblocks. As the Coronavirus works to be controlled, the CMS under the 1135 waiver authority and Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act is expanding telehealth on a temporary and emergency basis.
With most of the country headed to a lockdown, we must act now to implement pathways for continued care. While private payer insurance has been hopping on board with the healthcare innovation, Medicaid and Medicare lagged.
Benefits of Telehealth During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Keeping patients at home with mild symptoms is going to be the key to #FlattenTheCurve. Primary care physicians, practice groups are going to need a solution to see patients without them coming into the their office. Telehealth will become a lifeline for so many patients.
CMS states that “with the emergence of the virus causing the disease COVID-19, there is an urgency to expand the use of technology to help people who need routine care, and keep vulnerable beneficiaries and beneficiaries with mild symptoms in their homes while maintaining access to the care they need. Limiting community spread of the virus, as well as limiting the exposure to other patients and staff members will slow viral spread.”
One Touch Telehealth CEO, Carrie Chitsey, has been invited on various shows recently to talk about how to implement telehealth rapidly. Hear her on Every Ancillary Medical Sales Podcast and in the article, “Telecare in the Time of Coronavirus“, on Practical Pain Management.
If you’re reading this, you are like everyone else, looking for a solution to the Coronavirus. Luckily with this latest legislation, a solution isn’t far and can be implemented in less than 24 hours. Learn more about our telehealth solution here.