Nathaniel M. Lacktman

Congress has taken another step forward to require the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to activate a special registration allowing physicians and nurse practitioners to prescribe controlled substances via telemedicine without an in-person exam. The House Energy and Commerce Health subcommittee approved the Special Registration for Telemedicine Clarification Act of 2018, part of a larger…… Continue reading this entry

More than 74 million individuals are enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Another 28 million are currently uninsured. Due to the repeal of the individual mandate (the requirement under the Affordable Care Act to purchase insurance or face a financial penalty), the uninsured population is projected to increase to 32 million…… Continue reading this entry

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) just published a new report on OIG’s review of Medicare payments for telehealth services. The objective of the OIG review was to determine whether or not CMS paid practitioners for telehealth services that met Medicare requirements. The report concluded that, of the sampled claims…… Continue reading this entry

For over a decade, Medicare has required providers to append special modifiers to their CPT and HCPCS codes when billing for telehealth services. The two primary modifiers for telehealth services were GT (indicating the service was delivered via an interactive audio and video telecommunications system) and GQ (indicating the service was delivered via an asynchronous…… Continue reading this entry

Hospital-based telemedicine services continue to rapidly expand across the country, allowing providers to deliver care to rural areas and better allocate the staffing and availability of specialist physicians such as neurologists and emergency medicine.  However, despite the uptick in telemedicine services at hospitals, many medical staff offices still use the traditional “primary source verification” process…… Continue reading this entry

The new year continues to offer big opportunities for telemedicine and digital health companies, and one of the most notable developments is CMS’ decision to reimburse providers for remote patient monitoring (RPM).  Effective January 1, 2018, the Medicare program will pay providers for RPM services billed under CPT code 99091.  The service is currently defined…… Continue reading this entry

The Maryland Board of Physicians evaluated, then tabled for further consideration, a set of new telehealth rules designed to expand the opportunities for hospitals and providers to deliver virtual care services in Baltimore and throughout the State.  The Board held a public hearing on January 24, 2018 to review proposed telehealth rules originally issued late…… Continue reading this entry

Following on the heels of its plans to review Medicare payments for telehealth services, the federal Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) just announced a new project to review state Medicaid payments for telemedicine and other remote services. Accordingly, providers who bill state Medicaid programs for telemedicine,…… Continue reading this entry

When we launched Foley’s inaugural Telemedicine and Digital Health Survey in 2014, it was apparent that health care executives weren’t ready to make telemedicine a significant focus of their business and patient strategies. The interest was there but, despite tremendous technological breakthroughs and imaginative applications, most telemedicine programs were in the early stages and there…… Continue reading this entry

Telemedicine rules in the District of Columbia underwent a second round of revisions as the District of Columbia Department of Health issued a new set of proposed rules . The newly-revised proposed telemedicine rules, issued in July, replace the Department’s first draft of telemedicine regulations issued in early 2016, and incorporate comments submitted by a number…… Continue reading this entry