On November 22, 2023, while many were preparing for the Thanksgiving holiday, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) posted a consumer alert (Alert) warning the public about a fraud scheme involving monthly billing for remote...more
11/29/2023
/ Criminal Investigations ,
Durable Medical Equipment ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Fraud ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Kickbacks ,
Medicare ,
OIG ,
Telehealth ,
Telemedicine
On November 2, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized new policies related to remote physiologic monitoring (RPM) and remote therapeutic monitoring (RTM) services reimbursed under the Medicare...more
11/9/2023
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Data Collection ,
Final Rules ,
FQHC ,
Health Technology ,
Medical Billing Codes ,
Medical Devices ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Shared Savings Program ,
Physical Therapists ,
Physician Fee Schedule ,
Reimbursements ,
Rural Health Care Providers ,
Telemedicine
On October 6, 2023, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) released a second temporary rule extending the COVID-19 Telemedicine Flexibilities for Prescription of Controlled Medications. This second extension, issued...more
At long last, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has signaled its consideration of a separate Special Registration for telemedicine prescribing for patients without requiring an in-person examination.
On August 4,...more
Decentralized Clinical Trials (DCTs) are clinical trials where some or all trial-related activities occur at locations other than traditional clinical trial sites, such as via telemedicine or in a clinical trial participant’s...more
On May 10, 2023, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) released a new regulation – “Temporary Extension of COVID-19 Telemedicine Flexibilities for Prescription of Controlled Medications” – temporarily extending the “full set” of...more
On March 1, 2023, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) officially published proposed rules for prescribing controlled substances via telemedicine after the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency expires. The DEA gave the public a 30...more
Medicare telehealth post-Public Health Emergency (PHE): With the COVID-19 PHE concluding on May 11, 2023, many of the telehealth flexibilities the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented during the PHE will...more
3/30/2023
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Controlled Substances ,
DEA ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Digital Health ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Medicare Administrative Contractors (MAC) ,
Opioid ,
PHI ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Substance Abuse ,
Telemedicine
In what feels like an instant, telemedicine has gone from an emerging niche to a must-have. The pandemic created an opportunity for telemedicine providers to grow — rapidly — giving even more reason for venture capital and...more
Continuing the trend of expanded Medicare reimbursement for remote monitoring, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the 2022 Physician Fee Schedule final rule on its new Remote Therapeutic Monitoring...more
On August 3, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a number of clarifications and proposals on remote patient monitoring (RPM) services reimbursed under the Medicare program. The changes, part of...more
On the evening of March 30, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an interim final rule (IFC) introducing a new crop of temporary regulatory waivers and new rules to equip the American health care...more
With the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the looming possibility of large scale isolations and quarantines, lawmakers continue to demonstrate willingness to expand access to telehealth to combat...more
3/21/2020
/ Controlled Substances ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
DEA ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacies ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Ryan Haight Act ,
Telehealth ,
Telemedicine
Last week, CMS proposed two significant changes to remote patient monitoring (RPM) services reimbursed under the Medicare program. The changes, part of the proposed 2020 Physician Fee Schedule, have been hotly anticipated by...more
On April 29, 2019, the Florida State Legislature passed HB 23, a law providing additional guidelines on the use of telehealth in the Sunshine State. The bill is now on its way to Governor DeSantis’ desk where he is expected...more
Kentucky health care providers and patients will soon enjoy a revamped, and significantly improved, telehealth commercial insurance coverage law. Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin signed SB 112 into law on April 26, 2018, imposing...more
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds recently signed a new bill into law requiring commercial health insurers in the Hawkeye State to cover health care services provided via telehealth to the same extent those services are covered via...more
It seems the efforts of telemedicine advocates to change federal law and allow greater prescribing of controlled substances are no longer falling on deaf ears. Congress just released a pair of draft discussion bills to amend...more
On January 22, 2018, the Georgia House of Representatives adopted a Resolution recognizing telehealth as an important tool to improving access to health care in Georgia. One week later, the Georgia Senate recognized January...more
The telemedicine industry has been abuzz upon learning that provider-friendly legislation was included in the new federal Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, signed into law by the President on February 9, 2018. But telehealth...more
2/16/2018
/ ACOs ,
Bi-Partison Balanced Budget Act (BBA) ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Information Technologies ,
Medical Reimbursement ,
Medicare ,
New Legislation ,
Physicians ,
Reimbursements ,
Telehealth ,
Telemedicine
Alaska’s Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development has finalized new regulations to create a special Telemedicine Business Registry for health care providers delivering telemedicine services in the Frontier...more
Vermont health care providers and patients can now enjoy a revamped, and significantly improved, telehealth commercial insurance coverage law. Vermont Governor Phil Scott signed S. 50 into law on June 7, 2017, expanding...more
Congress is reconsidering a nationwide telehealth coverage bill, named the Medicare Telehealth Parity Act of 2017, designed to introduce an incremental, though significant, expansion of coverage for telehealth services under...more
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin recently signed into law SB 726, establishing new telemedicine practice standards, including explicitly allowing doctors to create valid physician-patient relationships via telemedicine without...more
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, recently signed into law SB 213, clarifying that health professionals in Michigan may prescribe controlled substances via telemedicine without an in-person examination. The law reverses a 2016...more