Provider Eligibility
Per the 4/30 press release and updated documentation,
all healthcare professionals that are eligible to to bill Medicare will be allowed to be reimbursed for telehealth-delivered services for the remainder of the PHE.
Earlier guidance and expansion of telehealth possibilities during the COVID-19 PHE had only applied to providers previously determined to be eligible to bill Medicare for Telehealth encounters.
Audio Only Encounters
CMS announced they are
also waiving the requirement of video technology use for a certain set of services for the remainder of the PHE, and
increasing the payment amount for telephone visits to match payments for similar office and outpatient visits.
This waiver only applies to codes for audio-only telephone evaluation and management services and behavioral health counseling and education services; For a complete list of these codes, see
here.
FQHCs and RHCs are eligible for this waiver as well, but should follow their own specific billing requirements to use these codes, which can found
here.
Note: Unless explicitly referenced above, other codes still require live video interaction.
Hospital Based Telehealth Services Expansions
The 4/30 press release states that CMS has added
Hospitals to the list of locations that qualify for the Originating Site Facility Fee when a Hospital-based provider issues a clinical encounter to a Medicare patient currently under Outpatient care (including patients at home)
.
CMS also permitted Hospitals to
furnish certain clinical services provided by a Hospital-based provider practicing remotely
to Medicare patients registered as hospital outpatients (including those at home).
