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
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds recently signed a new bill into law requiring commercial health insurers in the Hawkeye State to cover health care services provided via telehealth to the same extent those services are covered via in-person care. The law, passed under HF 2305, takes effect January 1, 2019 and applies to all policies delivered,…… 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
The Delaware Board of Medicine has issued proposed regulations clarifying certain statutory provisions pertaining to telemedicine and telehealth. As we previously reported, Delaware’s Medical Practice Act imposes certain practice standards for what constitutes an appropriate patient diagnosis and treatment via telemedicine, including the allowable modalities and when an in-person examination is required. The new proposed…… 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
It seems the efforts of telemedicine advocates to change federal law and allow greater prescribing of controlled substances are no longer falling on deaf ears. Congress just released a pair of draft discussion bills to amend the federal Ryan Haight Act. The “Improving Access to Remote Behavioral Health Treatment Act” would allow certain community mental…… Continue reading this entry
On January 22, 2018, the Georgia House of Representatives adopted a Resolution recognizing telehealth as an important tool to improving access to health care in Georgia. One week later, the Georgia Senate recognized January 30, 2018, as Telehealth Day at the State Capitol. The Peach State clearly remains an enthusiastic pioneer in its use of…… 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 telemedicine industry has been abuzz upon learning that provider-friendly legislation was included in the new federal Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, signed into law by the President on February 9, 2018. But telehealth providers, hospitals, and entrepreneurs need to cut through the hype and understand what the provisions will really do for telehealth. This…… Continue reading this entry