The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was granted authority to ease restrictions and expand coverage for telehealth.
- Providers can now see both new and established patients via telehealth.
- Patients can now receive telehealth visits from their home.
- Non-HIPAA compliant technology is allowed for telehealth services.
- Telehealth services are now paid at the same rate as standard office visits (this is achieved by billing using the place of service code that would have been used if the service was performed face-to-face; for example, POS 11 for office visit).
- Providers now have the ability to waive cost sharing (copays and deductibles) for all telehealth services.
- CMS has removed frequency limitations for certain services provided via telehealth:
- Telehealth frequency limitation of once every 30 days has been removed for subsequent inpatient visits (CPT codes 99321-99233)
- Telehealth frequency limitation of once every 30 days has been removed for subsequent nursing facility visits (CPT codes 99307-99310)
- Telehealth frequency limitation of once per day has been removed for critical care consult codes (Codes G0508-G0509)
- Telephone visits are covered (though currently at a rate far lower than standard telehealth visits). For more details on telephone visits, please see the Billing for Telephone Calls section of this guide.