As the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS or the Department) continues the process of transitioning away from the policies enabled by the COVID-19 emergency declarations, the Department would like to provide clarity regarding the future of federal flexibilities related to telehealth and tele prescribing to ensure that patients may continue to access and […]
Based on current COVID-19 trends, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is planning for the federal Public Health Emergency (PHE) for COVID-19, declared under Section 319 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act, to expire at the end of the day on May 11, 2023. Since HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra’s February 9, 2023, letter […]
May 02, 2023 – A newly released federal toolkit aims to help healthcare stakeholders analyze their telehealth claims data to assess program integrity risks. Released last week by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG), the toolkit is based on the methodology developed for a report published last September that assessed providers who […]
May 2, 2023 – The COVID-19 pandemic led to a significant increase in the use of telehealth services across the United States, a shift driven in part by the Public Health Emergency (PHE), allowing health care providers to offer telehealth services to a broader range of patients. On Jan. 30, 2023, the Biden administration announced […]
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced its plan to end the Federal Public Health Emergency (PHE) for COVID-19 on May 11, 2023. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, emergency declarations, legislation, and regulatory waivers across government agencies, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), allowed for flexibility in the delivery of […]
HHS OIG has said that during 2020, the use of telehealth services increased dramatically, with Medicare beneficiaries using 88 times more telehealth services in that year than the year prior. Additionally, more than 40% of Medicare beneficiaries used telehealth services that year. The United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General […]
COVID-19 significantly affected home-based care providers, such as home health agencies (HHAs) and hospices, whose staff had to overcome both physical and mental burdens of going into patients’ homes to deliver care, especially in the days before a COVID-19 vaccine. While these providers benefitted from a number of Medicare program regulatory flexibilities during the public […]
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues across the United States, states, payers, and providers are looking for ways to expand access to telehealth services. Telehealth is an essential tool in ensuring patients are able to access the healthcare services they need in as safe a manner as possible. In order to provide our clients with quick […]
WHAT IS THE TOOLKIT? This toolkit provides detailed information on methods to analyze telehealth claims to identify program integrity risks associated with telehealth services. It is based on the methodology that the Office of Inspector General (OIG) developed for the report Medicare Telehealth Services During the First Year of the Pandemic: Program Integrity Risks (OEI-02-20-00720), which identified […]
The concept of hospital-at-home isn’t new, but it’s much more than an industry buzzword. It can be a game-changer for the healthcare industry if we are both innovative and realistic. It has the potential to transform the full experience for both providers and patients. Instead of requiring a patient to be onsite at a facility […]
The threat of a physician shortage is nothing new but seems to have picked up steam in the last few years. In fact, new figures from the Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) anticipate a shortage of up to 120,000 physicians by the year 2030. This is a particular challenge in rural areas, where the ratio of patients […]
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues across the United States, states, payers, and providers are looking for ways to expand access to telehealth services. Telehealth is an essential tool in ensuring patients are able to access the healthcare services they need in as safe a manner as possible. In order to provide our clients with quick […]
“This article was originally published by Foley & Lardner LLP [What FQHCs Need to Know About Telehealth After the PHE | Foley & Lardner LLP] on [April 10, 2023], and is reprinted with permission.” On January 30, 2023, the Biden Administration announced its intent to end the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) on May 11, 2023. For Federally Qualified […]
Consumers with health saving accounts and high-deducible health plans would be able to continue to access telehealth services without having to meet their minimum deductible under legislation reintroduced in Congress last week. “During the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth became an important tool used by families, seniors and rural communities to access quality, affordable health care,” said Rep. Michelle Steel, […]
The Biden administration’s plan to terminate the COVID-19 public health emergency on May 11 signifies the end of an era as the nation confronts its third year of a still-present but muted pandemic, with cases, deaths and hospitalizations all largely trending downward since the beginning of the year. Though the availability of COVID-19 vaccinations at no cost is expected […]