Digital Health

As telemedicine continues to see significant traction, health care organizations are working to implement telemedicine programs and  create technology infrastructures all while working within the current legislative requirements. Foley & Lardner LLP and Ziegler recently had an opportunity to sit down with 15 leaders in telemedicine to discuss the progress, barriers, and return on investment…… Continue reading this entry

The telemedicine industry was pleased to learn CMS recently proposed adding new services to its list of Medicare-covered telehealth services.  But what may be more interesting are the services CMS declined to add, and why.  This article summarizes the newly-proposed additions as well as the services CMS rejected, explores some reasons for CMS’ decisions, and…… Continue reading this entry

Earlier this year, in a first-of-its-kind move, CMS made remote patient monitoring (RPM) a separately-reimbursable service under Medicare.  Now, CMS has proposed three new codes for RPM services, retitled “Chronic Care Remote Physiologic Monitoring,” which do a far better job reflecting how providers can more effectively and efficiently use RPM technology to monitor and manage…… Continue reading this entry

The Massachusetts House of Representatives has passed sweeping telehealth legislation, accompanying a companion bill passed by the Senate in November 2017.  While Massachusetts is often considered a leader in health care innovation, the Commonwealth has not enacted significant legislation in this area for several years, and is among the minority of states without a meaningful telehealth insurance coverage…… Continue reading this entry

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services just issued a proposed rule introducing monumental changes to the physician fee schedule, paving the way for asynchronous telemedicine and new technologies through a new set of virtual care codes.  CMS explained the impetus for the bold changes, declaring: “We now recognize that advances in communication technology have…… Continue reading this entry

The Delaware Board of Medicine recently enacted new regulations pertaining to telemedicine and telehealth. As we previously reported, the new regulations are intended to clarify the language in Delaware’s Medical Practice Act, which imposes certain practice standards for what constitutes an appropriate patient diagnosis and treatment via telemedicine, including the allowable modalities and when an…… Continue reading this entry

Connecticut has taken another step towards expanding the meaningful use of telemedicine in connection with treatment of mental health and substance use disorders.  SB 302, signed by Governor Dannel Malloy and effective July 1, 2018, allows providers to prescribe controlled substances via telemedicine for the treatment of psychiatric disabilities or substance use disorder, including medication…… 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

The use of new technologies such as digital health applications, telemedicine, and information exchanges can provide game-changing benefits for providers and patients alike.  However, with increased sharing comes increased risks to both the security and the privacy of patient information.  Most digital health and telemedicine companies are aware of data security and breaches.  However, an…… Continue reading this entry