On March 31, 2020, CMS https://www.cms.gov released actions to further promote telehealth in Medicare. CMS is building on prior actions to expand reimbursement for telehealth services to Medicare beneficiaries. The agency will now allow for more than 80 additional services to be furnished via telehealth.
Virtual check-in service or brief check-ins between a patient and their doctor by audio or video device could previously only be offered to patients that had an established relationship with their doctor. Now doctors can provide these services to both new and established patients.
During the public health emergency, individuals can now use interactive apps with audio and video capabilities to visit with their clinician for an even broader range of services. Providers can also evaluate beneficiaries who have audio phones only.
Home health agencies can provide more services to beneficiaries using telehealth, so long as it is part of the patient’s plan or care and does not replace needed in-person visits as ordered by the plan of care.
If a physician determines that a Medicare beneficiary should not leave home because of a medical contraindication or due to suspected or confirmed COVID-19, and needs skilled service, the beneficiary will then be considered homebound and qualify for the Medicare Home health Benefit,
Also, providers can bill for telehealth visits at the same rate as in-person visits. Telehealth visits can include emergency department visits, initial nursing facility and discharge visits, home visits, and therapy services, which must be provided by a clinician that is allowed to provide telehealth. New as well as established patients can stay at home and have a telehealth visit with their provider.
CMS is allowing telehealth to fulfill many face-to-face visit requirements for clinicians to see their patients in inpatient rehabilitation facilities, hospice, and home health. With the new changes, clinicians can provide remote patient monitoring to patients with acute and chronic conditions, and can be provided for patients with only one disease. For example, remote patient monitoring can be used to monitor a patient’s oxygen saturation levels using pulse oximetry.