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Is anyone employing telehealth? Could you see keeping it after all this does down? Specifically for more rural outreach clinics where you don't go very often?
Is anyone employing telehealth? Could you see keeping it after all this does down? Specifically for more rural outreach clinics where you don't go very often?
That may be circumstances for now my understanding is prior to this was mostly for rural locations and the patient has to be located at a specific originating site like a local clinic or something.I like it for routine stuff and hope it stays.
Patients dont have to miss work. They can just take a 10min break and "see the doctor" and it reimburses the same (at least for now).
I could definitely see this staying.
It's a win win for patient/doctor.
Hopefully it changes! We had some telehealth through our clinic prior but im not sure how it all worked out as I wasnt involved. I know the reimbursements were much less.That may be circumstances for now my understanding is prior to this was mostly for rural locations and the patient has to be located at a specific originating site like a local clinic or something.
Yes video has to be done in order to actually make it worth your time to get full reimbursement. There is an APM a webinar that was just done on this but again that's talkin about things in terms of the waivers being made for current situation and not what was eligible to be done prior to this.If the established follow-ups are done via telephone with the one of the G codes ie. like G2012 or G2020 (something like that) - the visits are worth next to nothing. Like $10-15. That said - for some of my patients I was just calling them and saying - look, we are cancelling your visit, but how are you doing. Yeah, I'll refill your naproxen, keep stretching. You might actually be getting paid for something you were already doing.
The thing about the telehealth visits is to charge them as a visit you have to use video - ie. skype/facetime/etc (HIPAA rules are relaxed at present). So it needs to be something as described above - a classic MSK pain that the person can point to. Plantar fasciitis is probably the best example. Is it focal at the medial heel? Are you still able to walk? Its been going on for 3 months? K.
That's my understanding from trying to read the Medicare documentation. Theoretically the video visits are supposed to be for established patients, but they aren't going to audit so you could do new patients in the mean time.
That's why they can't be new patients and there's a 7 day global for telehealth.The main issue is when telehealth fails and they have to come in for a real exam to diagnose a neuroma or PTTD etc, etc.
That would lead to 2 visits and the insurance companies dont want that.
But for real simple stuff like a rash or someone wants to start terbinafine I think its great.