Resources & Reports

On July 7, the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services (CMS) released the unpublished version of the proposals for the CY 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS). CMS uses this process to make administrative updates to Medicare’s policy related to telehealth.  This year, the telehealth proposals focused primarily on what services will be covered by the program and what will happen immediately following the end of the public health emergency (PHE), including during the 151-day grace period included in the 2022 Budget Act.

CCHP’s July Newsletter is Here! This month’s topics include: Abortion Decision Impact on Telemedicine & Privacy; CMS Releases CY 2023 Proposed Physician Fee Schedule (PFS); White House ONDCP Report & Recommendations on Telehealth and SUD Services during COVID-19; Latest Policy Developments in CCHP’s Telehealth Policy Finder and Policy Trends Map; OIG Semi-Annual Report Highlights Telehealth Activities in Six Month Period; CMS Requests Comments on Collection of Information on Use of Telecommunication Technology in Home Health Prospective Payment System; FSMB Updates Telemedicine Guidance; CMS Updates Guidance Documents with Telehealth Clarifications for FQHCs, RHCs and Diabetes Self-Management Training Program; Analysis of Telehealth Medicare E&M Claims Data.

FAIR Health recently released an issue brief looking at “The Evolution of Telehealth during the COVID-19 Pandemic” utilizing data from their Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker. FAIR Health receives voluntarily provided claims data, housing the country’s largest collection of private payer healthcare claims, while also receiving Medicare data, which allows them the ability to produce valuable reports for various government and healthcare entities. For the issue brief, FAIR Health focused on private payer claims.

A recent article in Health Affairs, titled Interstate Telehealth Use by Medicare Beneficiaries, examined the data behind interstate telehealth use before and after COVID-19 licensure waivers. The authors analyzed trends in data from 2017-2020, finding that most out-of-state telehealth use was with established patients, and more patients were from rural areas. The article states that based on the research results, policymakers should consider how reinstating limitations on cross-state telehealth use may disproportionately impact access for certain patient populations.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR)recently released guidance on the use of remote communication technologies for audio-only telehealth to assist health care providers and health plans, or covered entities, bound by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules (HIPAA Rules). The goal of the guidance as stated by OCR is to support continued access to audio-only telehealth post-public health emergency (PHE) and make clear that audio-only telehealth is permissible under HIPAA Rules.