Resources & Reports

CCHP’s April Newsletter is Here!  This month’s topics include: Anticipated Telehealth Changes When/If PHE Ends, What Stays, What Goes and When Could it Happen?; Two Federal COVID Reports Show Telehealth Imperative during COVID Emergency; CMS Provides Updates for FQHCs and RHCs to Bill Mental Health Visits via Telecommunications; Latest Policy Developments in CCHP’s Telehealth Policy Finder and Policy Trends Map; FCC Comments on Promoting Telehealth in Rural America; CCHP Releases Telehealth Medicaid Reference Chart for American Indian/Alaskan Native Health Services; Senate Finance Committee Bipartisan Mental Health Report; URAC White Paper Details Their Observed Advantages of Telehealth in the Field.

A focus around accessing substance use disorder (SUD) treatment via telehealth has strengthened during the course of the pandemic both in terms of policy and research. Some of the latest long-term federal policy developments around telehealth have centered around mental health and SUD services. In December 2020, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) which included a change that allowed for the provision of mental health and substance use disorder services in the home without geographic limitations, if the patient had an in-person visit with the telehealth provider within six months prior to the telehealth service taking place.

The Center for Connected Health Policy’s (CCHP) updated billing guide for 2022, Billing for Telehealth Encounters: An Introductory Guide on Medicare Fee-For-Service is now available!! With the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) tracking telehealth policy has become even more complex and varied, therefore the billing guide seeks to break down permanent post-PHE policies versus temporary PHE policy exceptions, as well as new legislative and administrative requirements relevant to telehealth billing. Many new requirements will only kick in post-PHE.