Technology | 11.15.19
Rapid Expansion of Telehealth Comes With New Challenges
by NAMSS Staff
STAT (10/21/2019) Malek, Linda A.; Mowad, Khaled
The growth of telehealth services carries greater regulatory risk, especially with differing state laws on telehealth and the relationships between state regulations and federal policies. Policies concerning delivery, provider credentialing, and informed consent can shed light on the situation. Although new delivery channels allow telehealth providers to better personalize care, state and federal reimbursement policies vary widely. The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized a rule allowing Medicare Advantage plans to cover additional telehealth services as basic benefits -- including electronic information and telecommunications services like secure messaging and videoconferencing -- to instill flexibility in managing future innovations. State laws have transitioned from limiting telehealth use to rural or underserved areas with respect to state Medicaid programs, but still limit qualifying originating sites and often exclude beneficiaries' homes. This neutralizes both reimbursement for remote beneficiary management and the convenience of telehealth. Almost 40 states have passed telehealth-related informed consent requirements.
Read the full article on STAT.