Important Information about Telehealth Usage during COVID-19

Thank you for continuing the vital work of bringing HOPE to your patients!   As a follow up to our previous communication, we have more specific information on how and when to bill for telemedicine services.  Please click here to view the “Medicare Telemedicine Health Care Provider Fact Sheet,” for the latest updates from CMS.

Our key takeaways are:

  1. Keep performing follow-ups!   CMS will pay as usual for E&M services (99201-99215) provided via telehealth as long as you choose a medium that allows for both video and audio communication (i.e., Facetime, Google Duo, etc.).
  2. You can also perform a “Virtual Check-In” for established patients telephonically.  Be sure that the patient has verbally expressed consent and record this in your patient notes.
  3. For any form of telemedicine, be sure that you are documenting appropriately.   Here is an example of what our centers will be recording in our notes:

Per H.R. 6074, Division B, Section 101 and 102, the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2020, this visit was conducted via audio and visual telecommunication via (format used) with the patient’s verbal consent after verifying their name and date of birth. Vitals were not taken during this telemedicine appointment.   The duration of the telemedicine visit was ____ minutes.

We are here for you!  If you have additional questions, please call us at 866.353.0360.  We are waiving our consulting fees for the next few weeks to help practices get through this crisis. Please let us know if we can be of service to you and your patients.