Resources & Reports

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.

A recent bulletin from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Office for the Advancement of Telehealth (OAT) highlights helpful resources for older adults and telehealth in recognition of September being Healthy Aging Month. Developed by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the resources include a best practice guide addressing telehealth accessibility for older patients, as well as a website focusing on telehealth considerations for older adults. Together this information showcases the value of telehealth especially in terms of managing health care needs from home, while also providing comprehensive patient and provider information on the use of telehealth specific to certain conditions and populations.

CCHP’s September newsletter is here! This month’s topics include – CCHP Medicare Fee-for-Service 2024 Billing Guide; DEA Prepares New Regulations for Telemedicine Prescribing of Controlled Substances; CMS Clarifies Telehealth Payment Policy for Services Provided at Home; Essential Telehealth Resources from HHS; Latest Policy Developments in CCHP’s Telehealth Policy Finder and Policy Trends Map; Key Telehealth Resources from CHCF; Addressing Telemedicine Barriers for Mandarin-Speaking Adults with Limited English Proficiency; Telehealth Awareness Week: September 15-21, 2024.

In discussions surrounding Artificial Intelligence (AI), bias has been one of the major concerns raised when contemplating AI’s use in health care. Research has shown that results produced through AI may not take into consideration factors that impact certain populations or communities because the information or data used to develop those results may not be representative of everyone.  As a result, a group of hospitals and university health technology experts have recently come together in an effort to address these shortcomings.