Healthcare IT Today

MARCH 17, 2020

CMS has announced the expansion of Medicare coverage and payment for telehealth and telemedicine visits.

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Healthcare IT News - Telehealth

NOVEMBER 10, 2020

Prepare Now for Anticipated Changes to Medicare and Private Payer Rules. ” [i] “We have moved forward a decade in the use of telemedicine in this country, and it’s going to become and will remain an increasingly important part of physician practices going forward.” i] AMA COVID-19 Update , June 17, 2020. [ii]

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Healthcare IT News - Telehealth

AUGUST 29, 2024

The American Telemedicine Association and ATA Action in a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services seeks to preserve pandemic-era Medicare telehealth flexibilities that it says are responsible for improving access to healthcare across the U.S. Permit access virtual cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation services.

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Medicare Medicare Medicaid Medicaid 114

Hall Render

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

On September 2, 2022, the Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) published a study assessing potential Medicare program integrity risks related to the proliferation of telehealth services during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. OIG identified 1,714 providers with billing practices deemed “high risk” to the Medicare program.

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Healthcare IT Today

FEBRUARY 10, 2022

In March of 2020, the world suddenly started using telehealth. After decades of dragging their feet, providers implemented video visits and messaging applications overnight, and the public responded enthusiastically.

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Healthcare IT News - Telehealth

JULY 22, 2022

Meanwhile, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Center for Program Integrity also announced that it has taken administrative actions against more than 50 healthcare providers alleged to be involved in similar schemes. Polite, Jr. in a statement. billion, according to the department. billion in alleged fraud. ON THE RECORD.

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Healthcare IT News - Telehealth

JANUARY 6, 2021

A wide-ranging study published this past week in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that older people, women, Black and Latinx individuals, and patients with lower household incomes were less likely to use video for telemedicine care during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. " WHY IT MATTERS.

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Health Populi

AUGUST 24, 2020

The Physicians Foundation surveyed 3,513 physicians in July 2020 on their perspectives on COVID-19 and how the pandemic has impacted practices and patients. The two impacts impact most physicians as a result of COVID-19 have been experiencing a reduction in income (55%) and increasing the use of telemedicine in the practice (52%).

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Healthcare IT News - Telehealth

JANUARY 25, 2021

The bill, which was first introduced in July 2020, would help safeguard access to virtual care after COVID-19 via four main provisions. Authorize the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service to continue reimbursement for telehealth for 90 days beyond the end of the public health emergency. WHY IT MATTERS.

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Health Law Advisor

MARCH 7, 2023

The proposed rules are more restrictive than the DEA emergency waivers under which providers conducted telemedicine prescribing for the last three years, but are less restrictive in comparison to the pre-PHE regulations applicable to telemedicine prescribing of controlled substances under the federal Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”).

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Healthcare IT News - Telehealth

MARCH 12, 2020

The Reducing Unnecessary Senior Hospitalizations (RUSH) Act of 2020, bipartisan legislation introduced in both the House and Senate, aims to enable more widespread use of telehealth in skilled nursing facilities. WHY IT MATTERS. The RUSH Act – introduced in companion bills from Sens. THE LARGER TREND. THE LARGER TREND.

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Healthcare IT News - Telehealth

DECEMBER 28, 2020

Prior to implementing the telemedicine technology supported by the FCC program funds, Sun River Health had relatively limited and targeted capacity to support remote visits. Mostly, Sun River Health's telemedicine services met the needs of the HIV, Medically Assisted Treatment patients. THE PROBLEM.

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COVID-19 Telemedicine Public Health Patient Satisfaction 180

Health Populi

JANUARY 9, 2020

Health care is the top issue driving voters’ choices in the 2020 elections for most Americans. For overall healthcare reform, the plurality of Americans prefer improving the current system (that is, building on the Affordable Care Act) versus repealing and replacing the ACA or adopting a Medicare for All plan.

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ACA FDA Public Health Medicare 77

Health Populi

FEBRUARY 22, 2022

Doximity’s second report on telemedicine explores both physicians’ and patients’ views on virtual care, finding most doctors and health consumers on the same page of virtual care adoption. For the physicians’ profile, Doximity examined 180,000 doctors’ who billed Medicare for telemedicine claims between January 2020 and June 2021.

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Telemedicine COVID-19 Doctors Medicare 83

Healthcare Law Today

NOVEMBER 9, 2022

Starting January 1, 2023, Medicare will cover telehealth-based treatment services delivered by federally-accredited opioid treatment programs (OTPs), commonly referred to as “methadone clinics.” Background and History of Medicare Telehealth Coverage of SUD Treatment. New Changes to Medicare OTP Telehealth Services.

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Medicare Medicare COVID-19 Telemedicine 52

Healthcare Compliance Blog

MARCH 2, 2022

The money laundering scheme involved the submission of false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary genetic tests and durable medical equipment. Allegedly, between January 2020 and July 2021, the ten Florida defendants referred Medicare beneficiaries for medically unnecessary genetic tests and durable medical equipment.

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Medicare Medicare Fraud Compliance 45

Health Populi

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

In April 2020, telemedicine morphed into mainstream medical care as hospitals and physicians risk-managed exposure to infection by meeting with patients, virtually, when possible. In 2020, 79% of U.S. Hy-Vee also introduced a Medicare Aisle into its grocery stores in August 2021.

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Telemedicine Medicare Medicare Doctors 133

Healthcare IT News - Telehealth

MARCH 2, 2023

To explore the efficacy of primary care telehealth, a recent Epic Research study examined the frequency of in-person physician visits that followed 18,636,522 primary care telemedicine appointments. "We found that patients covered by Medicaid and Medicare had the highest in-person follow-up rates," they said.

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Healthcare IT News - Telehealth

JANUARY 19, 2022

It is Brooklyn's tertiary care hub serving diverse communities with large Medicaid, Medicare and uninsured populations. At the time, Maimonides was not engaged in any telemedicine or other digital health initiatives. "Fortunately, we had learned a great deal from our RFI process at the start of 2020," he added.

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Healthcare IT News - Telehealth

APRIL 18, 2022

As outlined in the settlement agreement , PPOA is accused of using telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic to allegedly try and compensate for revenue lost from elective services. "Shortly thereafter, PPOA instructed medical providers to begin seeing patients by telemedicine twice a month.

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Healthcare IT News - Telehealth

DECEMBER 14, 2021

Caravan Health President and CEO Tim Gronniger previously was chief of staff and director of delivery system reform at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In 2019 and 2020, its partners earned $300 million in Medicare savings, more than $120 million in shared savings, and quality scores exceeding 97%, the company reported.

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Healthcare IT News - Telehealth

APRIL 29, 2022

"Telehealth accounted for a large share of ambulatory encounters at the peak of the pandemic and remained prevalent after infection rates subsided," said researchers in the study, which was funded in part by the American Telemedicine Association. Many previous large studies of telehealth use have relied on Medicare data.

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Healthcare IT News - Telehealth

JULY 27, 2021

Leading healthcare industry stakeholders on Monday implored top leaders in the House and Senate to help ensure, among other imperatives, that "Medicare beneficiaries [don't] abruptly lose access to nearly all recently expanded coverage of telehealth." " WHY IT MATTERS.

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Healthcare IT News - Telehealth

APRIL 21, 2021

Healthcare IT News interviewed Sean Cavanaugh, who serves as the chief policy officer and chief commercial officer at Aledade, whose technology offerings include population health and telemedicine. What do providers need to do with what appears to be the new normal of telemedicine? It does not seem like it will be going away.

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Medicare Medicare COVID-19 Telemedicine 194

Health Populi

AUGUST 25, 2020

This drove health consumers to virtual care platforms in the first months of the public health crisis — including lots of older people who had never used telemedicine or even a mobile health app. In May 2019, 14% of older patients’ health care providers offered telehealth visits, growing to 62% in June 2020 during the pandemic.

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Healthcare IT News - Telehealth

SEPTEMBER 27, 2021

The brief, which examined oversight efforts as of January and February 2020, stemmed from a survey of Medicaid directors from 37 states, as well as structured interviews with relevant stakeholders. In response to COVID-19, patients have regularly turned to telemedicine for behavioral health needs. WHY IT MATTERS. ON THE RECORD.

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Healthcare IT News - Telehealth

JUNE 22, 2020

During the opening keynote of the 2020 American Telemedicine Association conference, ATA CEO Ann Mond Johnson pointed to the transformative effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on telehealth. "This health emergency has launched telehealth" to new heights, Johnson said. But that won't be enough, said Johnson.

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C&M Health Law

NOVEMBER 9, 2020

On October 29, 2020, CMS issued the Home Health Prospective Payment System final rule [ CMS-1730-F, CMS-1744-IFC, and CMS-5531-IFC ], which permanently authorizes use of telecommunications technology as part of patient care under the Medicare home health benefit. [1]. Use of Telecommunications Technology in Home Health Services.

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Medicare Medicare COVID-19 Payment Systems 40

Healthcare IT News - Telehealth

MARCH 18, 2022

Out of the $15 billion invested in digital health in 2020 and $29 billion in 2021, on-demand healthcare – including telemedicine streaming video or text-based visits with a healthcare provider – has been the single largest trend, although it is still just the tip of the iceberg with all of the funding activity occurring now.

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Medicaid Medicaid COVID-19 Telemedicine 209

YouCompli

JULY 12, 2022

In fact, Medicare beneficiaries used telehealth to receive 12 percent of their services during the first year of the pandemic. An initial report from the OIG also notes that, “over 28 million Medicare beneficiaries used telehealth during the first year of the pandemic. This was more than two in five Medicare beneficiaries.

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COVID-19 Medicare Medicare Telemedicine 52

Healthcare IT News - Telehealth

MAY 15, 2023

As an FQHC, 75% of patients are enrolled in Medicaid or Medicare; another 7% are uninsured. THE PROBLEM Prior to 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic, there were federal and state policies in place that discouraged FQHCs like Ryan Health from adopting telehealth services due to payment restrictions.

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Healthcare Law Today

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

On November 1, 2022, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its final 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) rule. Telehealth and other digital health modalities continue to increase in importance for Medicare populations and corresponding health care providers.

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Medicare Medicare Telemedicine Nurses 132

Verisys

JANUARY 27, 2022

The use of telemedicine in the U.S. was minimal prior to COVID, but since 2020 expansion of telemedicine has skyrocketed as policymakers, insurers, and health systems sought ways to deliver care to patients in their homes. According to the U.S. Telepsychiatry in particular has benefited from these changes.

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US Department of Health and Human Services Telemedicine Licensing Informed Consent 52

Healthcare IT News - Telehealth

JANUARY 4, 2021

The year 2020 has been a year unlike any other year in our history. Hospitals faced significant losses in 2020 due to COVID-19 as elective procedures were put on hold and out-patient department visits reduced dramatically. In the US, as federal aid waned, for-profit hospital margins have been extremely strained in 2020.

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US Department of Health and Human Services COVID-19 COVID-19 Vaccine Hospitals 216

Healthcare IT News - Telehealth

SEPTEMBER 16, 2022

With the COVID-19 pandemic – especially thanks to an expansion of Medicare telehealth benefits during the public health emergency – driving increased use of virtual psychiatric care, many behavioral health providers ventured into telemedicine and onboarded digital telehealth platforms. " THE LARGER TREND.

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HIPAA COVID-19 Telemedicine Licensing 141

Healthcare IT News - Telehealth

JANUARY 5, 2022

Some changes to the Medicare Benefits Schedule for telehealth items in Australia – including the termination of 128 items, amendment of 17 items, and the addition of two more items – have taken effect this week. WHAT IT'S ABOUT. The changes come following the recommendations by the MBS Review Taskforce.

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Healthcare IT News - Telehealth

JUNE 26, 2020

"It wasn't perfect, but we did learn a lot," said Rachael-Linn Spooner, vice president of clinical transformation at Northwell Health, in an American Telemedicine Association 2020 deep-dive session on employing telehealth for primary care. "This was part of a population health strategy," said Dr.

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