Resources & Reports

Last month the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released an updated Telehealth Services Medicare Learning Network (MLN) Fact Sheet reflecting new information for 2024. Most of the guidance remains unchanged and updates largely focus around incorporating already adopted policies from the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (CAA 2023) and CY 2024 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) Final Rule. However, the document serves to assist providers struggling to keep up with shifting billing rules and offers the potential to clarify outstanding reimbursement issues as well as provide a reminder of current Medicare telehealth policies.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth research frequently focused on its use to access mental and behavioral health services, since the services were the most commonly considered as appropriate to receive virtually rather than in-person. As attention to and demand for telemental health access increased during the pandemic, additional studies have been released showing both trends and areas for future research as well as creating new policy. For instance, determining how many mental health clinicians have shifted their practices post-pandemic to primarily virtual, and how that trend interplays with federal and state policies requiring in-person visits. Additionally, with a shortage of mental health providers in many areas of the country, telehealth is a key tool to increase access to needed health care providers. However, a variety of other policy issues such as lack of payer reimbursement and digital equity continue to be challenges and limit telehealth’s ability to fully address access.

Two new reports have recently been released discussing states with licensure exemptions or registration processes specific to the use of telehealth by out-of-state providers. One report, titled, In 30 states you can’t use telehealth with out-of-state doctors, was released by the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), which also is the organization that filed the lawsuit alleging New Jersey’s licensure laws are unconstitutional which CCHP discussed in detail within its January 23^rd Newsletter. Additionally, a second report, issued by the Cicero Institute titled, The third annual telehealth innovation report, highlights 27 states that have barriers to cross-state-line telehealth. The discrepancies between the two reports are largely based on different definitions and interpretations of existing laws, demonstrating how confusing navigating telehealth across state lines can be for both providers and patients. In addition, the differences present the importance of reviewing each law directly in order to truly understand what the policies both require and allow in the various circumstances that arise in terms of virtual medical care.

CCHP’s February Newsletter is here! This month’s topics include – Health Systems Rally for Data Sharing Rights with Tech Giants; Lawmakers Advocate for Permanent Expansion of Telehealth Services in Post-Pandemic Era; Latest Policy Developments in CCHP’s Telehealth Policy Finder and Policy Trends Map; California Unveils Complimentary Online Behavioral Health Services for Kids and Families; FCC Announces Gradual Conclusion of Affordable Connectivity Program; ONC Final Rule Enhances Health IT Interoperability and Certification; Unlocking the Potential of Remote Patient Monitoring: Insights from the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Report; Audio-Only Telehealth Enhances Quality of Life for Chronic Disease Patient; Dive into Telehealth Policy with CCHP Executive Director, Mei Kwong!; Empowering Community Health Centers: Explore CCHP and NACHC’s Comprehensive Telehealth Resources.

On January 31, 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)  finalized rules for the prescribing of buprenorphine through the use of telehealth (rules first proposed in December 2022). In these final rules, opioid treatment programs (OTPs) will be able to use telehealth to prescribe buprenorphine without an in-person visit. It is important to note that these final rules are not in regard to using telehealth to prescribe a controlled substance in general. This is a very specific rule that applies to OTPs and the use of telehealth to prescribe buprenorphine with some additional applications specifically to methadone.  The broader policy of using telehealth to prescribe controlled substances without an in-person visit (or meeting one of the narrow exceptions found in federal statute) still remains a temporary allowance through the end of 2024.