The White House Aug. 3 issued an executive order on “improving rural health and telehealth access.” The order includes directives to: launch a new payment model for rural health care; develop and implement a strategy to improve rural health care infrastructure; create a report describing policy initiatives to improve rural health; and propose regulation that would extend […]
Doctors treating patients virtually can provide new services, such as emergency visits, eye exams, and certain mental health visits, after the pandemic subsides under an executive order from President Donald Trump announced yesterday. As part of the order, the Agriculture Department and Federal Communications Commission are partnering to bolster broadband access to rural communities, boosting telehealth efforts […]
Among the many changes proposed in the 2021 Physician Fee Schedule rule were telehealth coverage expansions, permanent COVID-19 flexibilities, and higher values for office/outpatient visits. August 04, 2020 – Which Medicare waivers will be made permanent by CMS after the COVID-19 public health emergency is still up in the air, but the recently proposed 2021 Physician Fee […]
Among the changes announced this week include the expanded use of telehealth in Medicare, giving payment parity to hospital outpatient surgery centers, simplifying evaluation and management codes, and changing performance measures for accountable care organizations (ACOs). Among a swath of proposed policy and payment changes announced this week by the Trump administration, CMS continued its […]
The executive order would call on the Department of Health and Human Services to develop a new pilot payment model for rural hospitals, and would set up a task force to improve broadband infrastructure in rural communities. For the past few months, policymakers from the states to Congress have discussed plans to keep some of […]
Various reports indicate that physician adoption of telemedicine has boomed over the course of just the past few months, with virtual healthcare interactions set to surpass 1 billion by the end of the year. Similarly, in 2019 just 8% of patients surveyed had sought care via telemedicine, but as of April 2020, that number had […]
Doctors treating patients virtually can provide new services like eye exams and certain mental health visits after the pandemic subsides under an executive order announced Monday. As part of the order, the Agriculture Department and Federal Communications Commission are partnering to boost broadband access to rural communities, bolstering telehealth efforts beyond the pandemic. The telehealth order […]
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will be making permanent a number of the temporary flexibilities to expand telehealth that the agency implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of rules affecting hospices that would be extended remains to be seen. President Donald Trump signed an executive order that among […]
Of the various chronic diseases, respiratory disorders are among the most prevalent, underdiagnosed, debilitating, deadly and costly to manage. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects about 250 million people globally and was responsible for more than 3 million deaths in 2015. Neurologic disorders cause significant dysfunction of the respiratory muscles in over 330,000 persons worldwide, […]
The answer largely depends on whether Medicare and private health insurers will adequately cover virtual doctor visits once coronavirus outbreaks subside. Telemedicine is having its moment. Over the last few months, millions of people have relied on video or telephone calls to talk to their doctors. But as the pandemic moves across the United States, […]
On August, 3 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule that announces and solicits public comments on proposed policy changes for Medicare payments under the Physician Fee Schedule (PFS), and other Medicare Part B issues, on or after January 1, 2021. The calendar year (CY) 2021 PFS proposed rule is one […]
On Monday, August 3, President Trump signed executive orders with the goal of improving healthcare in rural America, for seniors, and for all Americans, by expanding telehealth, modernizing regulations, and reforming payments. Specifically, the executive orders call on HHS to: Propose a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) rule to extend parts of Medicare’s […]
Alongside President Trump’s call for more rural telehealth coverage, CMS’ proposed 2021 Physician Fee Schedule could keep the momentum going for connected health. But is it enough? August 06, 2020 – The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has come out with its long-anticipated plans to expand telehealth coverage beyond the coronavirus pandemic. An advance copy of the […]
Doctors treating patients virtually can provide new services like eye exams and certain mental health visits after the pandemic subsides under an executive order announced Monday. As part of the order, the Agriculture Department and Federal Communications Commission are partnering to boost broadband access to rural communities, bolstering telehealth efforts beyond the pandemic. The telehealth order […]
Telehealth is likely to stay in the oncology realm, even after the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic passes, according to findings of the first part of the State of the Physician Survey conducted by MJH Life Sciences, which focused on physician and patient communications in the era of COVID-19. Moreover, the findings revealed that oncologists […]