Blog

The New Year is off to a good start for those involved in telehealth as changes to the Medicare Fee-For-Service program will bring expanded services to beneficiaries needing care related to stroke, End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) and substance use disorder (SUD) and co-occurring mental health disorders.

CMS has published several proposed and final rules regarding the reimbursement of telehealth services that will have a major impact on providers and beneficiaries. This blog will discuss some of the major changes to Medicare FFS, effective January 1, 2019. Proposed changes to Medicare Advantage will be discussed in a later blog.

This blog discusses opportunities to expand telehealth services for Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) beneficiaries if policies and regulations limiting payment were further revised.

A new report titled “Information on Medicare Telehealth” from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) shows relatively large growth in the use of telehealth services among Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) beneficiaries from 2014-2016. Yet, overall adoption remains low: Only a tiny fraction of the total Medicare FFS population currently uses telehealth.

Last week, we announced the first wave of telemedicine accredited organizations. Here are five quick insights into what we have learned from the first wave of applicants and their accreditation review processes.