Resources & Reports

Last month, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a new report regarding remote patient monitoring (RPM), which describes existing federal coverage policies and recent utilization rates, as well as recommending additional oversight of the telehealth modality’s use within the Medicare program. In particular, OIG’s review sought to understand how RPM, which is the collection and transmission of health data in a patient’s home to assist providers in managing a patient’s condition, is being used by Medicare patients and billed by Medicare providers. OIG found a dramatic increase in RPM use over the past few years and made a number of recommendations to ensure sufficient oversight and billing of RPM services going forward.

A recent court decision once again highlights the ability for legal rulings to impact telehealth policy, consistent with the focus of CCHP’s recent Telehealth and Court Cases webinar series, and raises interesting policy questions that have potentially far-reaching implications. Last month in Hines v. Pardue, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit found in favor of Ronald Hines, a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, after an over-a-decade-long court battle. At issue was whether Dr. Hines was violating Texas law requiring an in-person visit prior to providing medical advice over the internet, or whether his communications were protected under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The court, which decided in favor of Dr. Hines, stated in its September decision that the State of Texas was directly regulating Dr. Hines’ speech and that the in-person exam requirement failed to survive even intermediate scrutiny.

CCHP’s October Newsletter is here! This month’s topics include – Awaiting DEA Telemedicine Rules as Studies Highlight Telehealth’s Role in Treating Opioid Use Disorder; FDA Releases Final Guidance on Decentralized Clinical Trials, Highlighting Telehealth Components; NIHCM Highlights the Role of AI in Transforming Health Care; Latest Policy Developments in CCHP’s Telehealth Policy Finder and Policy Trends Map; HHS Provides Telehealth Resources for Substance Use Disorder and Behavioral Health.

With the Medicare temporary telehealth waivers set to expire at the end of this year, Congress continues to work on deciding whether the waivers will be extended, modified or allowed to expire with the current end date. In a new study published by Health Affairs (account or purchase of article required to access), 2022 Medicare fee-for-service claims were examined to determine who would be most impacted by telehealth policy changes.  Titled Telehealth Delivery Differs Significantly By Physician And Practice Characteristics, researchers found that female physicians, primary care physicians (PCP), psychiatrists and physicians in nonrural practices use telehealth more and will likely be most impacted by changes to the current telehealth policy environment for Medicare.

On September 18, 2024, the House Energy and Commerce Committee marked up and passed out of Committee HR 7623, the Telehealth Modernization Act of 2024.  The next stop for the bill will be the House floor and then, if passed, it will be sent over to the Senate.  The most significant part of HR 7623 that readers may be interested in is that it extends the Medicare telehealth waivers an additional two years.