As home health and home care operators move toward the ninth month of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important to take stock of what has been accomplished from a policy perspective. Many of 2020’s regulatory changes will be fleeting, but others will shape the future of post-acute care for years to come. That was the message […]
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) introduced the Home Health Emergency Access to Telehealth (HEAT) Act, a bipartisan bill to provide Medicare reimbursement for audio and video telehealth services furnished by home health agencies during the COVID-19 emergency and future public health emergencies. U.S. Representatives Roger Marshall (R-KS), Terri Sewell (D-AL), Jodey […]
Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule [CMS-1730-F] that finalizes routine updates to the home health payment rates for calendar year (CY) 2021, in accordance with existing statutory and regulatory requirements. This rule also finalizes the regulatory changes related to the use of telecommunications technology in providing care under […]
CMS on Thursday made permanent changes to telehealth flexibilities for home health providers. In its home health payment rule for 2021, the agency signed off on changes to allow providers to use telehealth for related skilled services if they’re outlined in a patient’s care plan. It also requires provides to describe how telehealth would improve treatment in a patient’s […]
Providers have looked to telehealth to continue seeing patients and revenue cycle technologies to improve efficiencies. Jeff Lagasse, Associate Editor When the COVID-19 pandemic hit earlier this year, it presented health systems across the U.S. with a need to accelerate innovation during an unprecedented time that shut down many in-person medical services. Health systems quickly turned […]
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, most health systems (91 percent) have been able to fully meet telehealth demand thanks to decreased regulations and increased reimbursement rates. For its “Top of Mind for Top Health Systems 2021: Digital health priorities in the era of COVID-19” report, KLAS Research partnered with Pittsburgh-based Center for Connected Medicine to survey […]
On October 14, CMS announced several changes designed to expand access to telehealth. CMS made further additions to the list of services that Medicare will pay for practitioners to furnish through telehealth for the duration of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) (“Medicare Telehealth List”). Additionally, CMS provided data and resources to support telehealth efforts […]
On October 14, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) expanded the list of telehealth services covered by Medicare during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. CMS also announced it would be providing additional support to state Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) agencies in delivering telehealth services. CMS added the telehealth services using, for […]
Jacqueline Marks, a manager with the Manatt Health division of Manatt, Phelps & Philips, has drafted a list of suggested policy actions that states could take to extend Medicaid telehealth coverage beyond the pandemic. By Eric Wicklund October 20, 2020 – With most state governments enacting emergency measures to improve Medicaid coverage for telehealth services during the coronavirus […]
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, state Medicaid agencies have temporarily expanded their telehealth coverage and reimbursement policies in varying degrees. States, providers, advocates and families recognize the important role that telehealth has played in maintaining access to care during the pandemic and are now turning to the difficult work of evaluating which components of […]
Rates of emotional distress are surging amid a deepening economic recession, a reckoning with state violence against the Black community, and the COVID-19 pandemic. The closures and restrictions necessary to mitigate the coronavirus’ spread have also massively disrupted in-person, outpatient mental health care at a time when an unprecedented number of people need support. To preserve people’s access to […]
By 2025, the World Economic Forum estimates that 463 exabytes of data will be created each day. Already, a single patient generates close to 80 megabytes each year in imaging and electronic medical record (EMR) data, according to an Innovation in Care Delivery article. While many clinicians and health care providers are hesitant to integrate aspects of AI into […]
On October 14, 2020, CMS added eleven new codes to the list of telehealth services covered by Medicare during to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE). Coverage for these new services is effective immediately and will continue, on a temporary basis, for the duration of the PHE. The PHE was recently extended through January 20, 2021. CMS […]
The COVID-19 pandemic sparked rapid growth in the use of telehealth, and what’s perhaps most surprising to seasoned experts on telemedicine is how smoothly the transition has fared for so many patients and physicians. “The one thing that we can all say we have achieved at this point is we brought the doctor’s office into […]
Telehealth adoption under COVID-19 has provided a blueprint for wider implementation across ERs and other healthcare venues. Jeff Lagasse, Associate Editor Telehealth has become more common given the current global pandemic. COVID-19 has limited doctor’s office and hospital visits to ensure safety for as many people as possible. But rather than diminish the quality of care, new […]