After years of longing for an update, the U.S. healthcare system is finally undergoing the crucial modernization it desperately needs. Dedicated IT professionals within healthcare organizations are now diligently developing enhanced electronic health records (EHRs) that promise increased efficiency and effectiveness. This transformative process entails integrating EHRs with state-of-the-art patient-access technologies. Consequently, various healthcare practitioners, […]
A new bill pending in Congress could make permanent the telehealth changes that proved beneficial to physicians and patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, a leading physician group is now backing site-neutral payment for medical services. These two topics have recently been the subject of renewed discussion due to proposals by federal policy makers. CONNECT […]
Table of Contents The Top 6 Changes in Medical Billing Implementation of ICD-11 Increased Use of Telehealth Services Changes in Reimbursement Rates Increased Focus on Patient-Centered Care Greater Emphasis on Data Security Focus on Price Transparency The healthcare industry is constantly evolving, and medical billing is no exception. With the ever-changing landscape of healthcare, it’s […]
Contrary to widespread hopes, the growth in telehealth brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic probably won’t lower health care costs. But it may make some services more widely accessible. A new Kaiser Family Foundation study compares average 2020 commercial insurance payments for evaluation and management and mental health therapy claims for services provided via […]
Opponents of the loosened interstate telehealth restrictions that were instituted at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic argued that it would result in out-of-state doctors luring patients away from their current physicians. But a new study finds that most out-of-state telehealth is used for continuity of care, not acquiring new patients. The study compares interstate […]
Healthcare provider organizations and clinicians are fortunate that telehealth has gone mainstream as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Telehealth opens up many new avenues to expand access to care, streamline the delivery of care, create new workflows and improve patient outcomes. Hopefully the Congress and state legislatures will act soon to ensure the temporary […]
Make sure your facility is aware of all the Medicare policy changes that permit payment for expanded services. Telehealth as a healthcare delivery platform has been in existence since the late 1960s. It was first introduced through projects initiated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Nebraska Psychology Institute. The declaration of […]
Coming soon is the possible end of the PHE. Will it be extended? How does the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022 impact the PHE, and where does telehealth fit into all of this? The COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) is slated to end this week on Thursday, April 14. But the signs are pointing […]
The U.S. Government Accountability Office is asking the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to gauge the effect that an increase in telehealth utilization is having on the care quality experienced by Medicaid beneficiaries. The GAO cited statistics showing usage continues to rise. GAO culled data from five states – Arizona, California, Maine, Mississippi and […]
Office visits represented 48 percent of all telehealth services used in the first year of the pandemic, making it the service most accessed via telehealth, federal data shows. Medicare beneficiaries most often used telehealth for office visits in 2020, receiving 54.5 million virtual office visits in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to […]