Medicare is Reimbursing Telehealth Visits During COVID-19

In response to the pandemic, Medicare is reimbursing telehealth visits during COVID-19. Under this waiver, the Department of Health and Human Services will waive certain Medicare telehealth payment requirements during the current Public Health Emergency. The waiver will also allow beneficiaries in all areas of the United States to receive telehealth services, even at home.

The waiver also temporarily lifts the requirement that the originating site must be a physician’s office or other authorized healthcare facilities.

Appointments that happen over telehealth platforms will be considered the same as in-person visits and will be billed at the same rate. Common telehealth services include, but are not limited to:

Office or other outpatient visits
Consultations, emergency department or initial inpatient visits
Follow-up inpatient consultations

A comprehensive list of covered telehealth services can be found here.

During this time, the Department of HHS is announcing a “policy of enforcement discretion for Medicare telehealth services” regarding whether patients had a prior established relationship with a particular practitioner. This means that the HHS will not conduct audits to ensure that a previous relationship existed for claims submitted.

Now is a perfect time for practices to begin engaging patients in telehealth services. Beam Health offers a platform that is built to be user friendly, both for the provider and the patient. Please visit this link to see what a telehealth visit looks like using Beam.

Beam Health knows that providers are looking to improve the service patients receive. Telehealth has become a vital instrument in providing modern care. Let patients know that you have embraced the future with Beam Health’s HIPAA compliant and encrypted telehealth platform. Contact a Beam team member today to schedule a demo to see how Beam Health can help!