2020 | HFSA

Telemedicine Policy and Reimbursement Changes

Practice News Coronavirus

Last week the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an interim final regulation that contained important flexibilities in how providers may practice medicine for the duration of the COVID-19 emergency declaration. Specifically, this regulation addressed expansions of telehealth and payment parity for telehealth services.

  • CMS expands the types of providers eligible to provide telehealth services to include all providers who are eligible to bill Medicare for their professional services
  • Providers may now use audio-only for certain evaluation and management services delivered by telehealth, thereby alleviating the need for video capability for some services
  • CMS announced that retroactive to March 1, 2020, CMS will increase payments for telephone visits to match payments for similar office and outpatient visits                                                

Useful resources for HFSA members include an updated list of covered Medicare telehealth services and a CMS Fact Sheet on the new regulation.

On May 5, 2020, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) released information on how to obtain informed consent from patients for virtual visits.  AHRQ has created a sample telehealth consent form and guidance for clinicians on how to obtain informed consent for telehealth.  Access more information about AHRQ’s telehealth consent form and other health literacy resources.

AHRQ also will host a webinar on June 9, 2020 (2:00 PM - 3:30 PM ET) to address the impact of telemedicine on chronic disease management and the factors that help or hinder the use of telemedicine in urban areas. The Web conference also will cover the evidence about how telehealth can be used routinely and during public health emergencies such as a pandemic. Learn more and register.