SR Health Blog

Within hours of one another, the federal government sent two powerful signals that telemedicine is here to stay, but permanency may not be as easy as expected. President Trump issued the "Executive Order on Improving Rural and Telehealth Access," declaring: “the expansion of telehealth services is likely to be a more permanent feature of the healthcare delivery system.” The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) subsequently released the 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) Proposed Rule featuring a section: “Telehealth and Other Services Involving Communications Technology.”

As the pandemic extends, the reality of this new normal is rapidly setting in. Between the fact that many Americans are anxious about entering a medical facility and younger generations hate waiting for an appointment, we may never return to the traditional face-to-face office schedule. You stood up your telemedicine infrastructure in a matter of days, but it’s time to start planning for a long-term integration of remote care into your practice. The question is: how do you get started?

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued regulatory guidance only 24 hours after our webinar, How to "See" Patients During a Pandemic and Get Paid for It, resulting in more changes to telemedicine reimbursement for Medicare. Although these changes are specific to Medicare, the announcement may prompt other payers to make further changes as Medicare reimbursement policy is a bellwether for our industry. Here is a list of the key points in the guidance related to medical practices:

The COVID19 pandemic quickly—and fundamentally—altered how patients are seen in a medical practice. “Seen” is the operative term here, as physician-patient encounters have steadily moved to a non-face-to-face platform. Although many refer to the new method of treating patients in an ambulatory setting as “telemedicine,” the phrase conveys a specific category of services. Telemedicine is just one method of delivering services without the patient’s physical presence. Let’s review the services available for you to manage patients during the pandemic—and how to best schedule them: