Telemedicine Toolkit | Labcorp (2024)

FAQs

What is the 7 day rule for telehealth? ›

The communication cannot be related to a medical visit within the previous seven days and cannot lead to medical visit within the next 24 hours (or soonest appointment available). Physician or other clinician may respond to patient by telephone, audio/video, secure text messaging, email, or patient portal.

During the COVID-19 public health emergency, CMS took action to expand access to telehealth services to ensure people could continue to access health care. Congress' temporary extension of flexibilities related to payment for many telehealth services is scheduled, by statute, to expire at the end of 2024.

While telemedicine refers specifically to remote clinical services, telehealth can refer to remote non-clinical services such as provider training, continuing medical education or public health education, administrative meetings, and electronic information sharing to facilitate and support assessment, diagnosis, ...

What are the different telehealth modifiers? There are several modifiers that may be appended to telehealth services. The modifier may depend on the type of service. -95: Synchronous telemedicine service rendered via a real-time interactive audio and video communications system.

Originating Sites

Through December 31, 2024, all patients can get telehealth wherever they're located. They don't need to be at an originating site, and there aren't any geographic restrictions.

Telehealth use declined across most sociodemographic groups from 2021 to 2022, according to a survey published Thursday by the National Center for Health Statistics. Thirty-seven percent of adults reported using telemedicine in the past 12 months in 2021, compared with just over 30% in 2022.

You May Not Know the Doctor Providing Your Care. Limited Technological Access. Training and Equipment Can Be Expensive.

What is possibly the biggest disadvantage to telehealth? The largest downside to telehealth may be inequitable access. People without reliable internet or wireless service and those who do not have a computer, tablet, or smartphone cannot participate in telehealth.

Telehealth Services under the PFS

For CY 2025, we are proposing to add several services to the Medicare Telehealth Services List on a provisional basis, including demonstration prior to initiation of home International Normalized Ratio (INR) monitoring and caregiver training services.

What is the 93 modifier? ›

Modifier 93 describes services that are provided via telephone or other real-time interactive audio-only telecommunications system. Use of this modifier is appropriate only if the real-time interaction occurs between a physician/other qualified health care professional and a patient who is located at a distant site.

About Coding for Telehealth

What Has Changed with Telehealth Services? As of April 30, CMS again expanded access to telemedicine services, this time increasing payment for telephone evaluation and management (E/M) codes 99441-99443 to the level of office/outpatient E/M codes 99212-99214 ($46- $110).

A real-time interaction between a patient and health care provider that is conducted solely via audio (e.g., telephone, internet call without video).

In contrast, patient-to-doctor medical care is a growing market, and patients can reach physicians via direct-to-consumer services via telemedicine. The 3 types of telemedicine services are synchronous, asynchronous, and remote monitoring. Synchronous refers to the delivery of health information in real time.

Key Findings

More than 60% of the time, primary care telehealth visits did not have an in-person follow-up visit in the same specialty within 90 days. Kids more frequently had an in-person office visit following a telehealth visit; however, more than half of the time (54%), kids did not have an in-person follow-up.

We're allowing teaching physicians to use audio or video real-time communications technology when the resident provides Medicare telehealth services in all residency training locations through the end of CY 2024. The MEI increase for 2024 is 4.6%.

You will need: a secure internet connection (broadband), a video platform, and technology support. You will then choose whether to record your interaction (recording device) and choose your peripherals to assist in the visit.

Business and Professions Code section 2290.5 requires a licensee to obtain a patient's informed consent to use telehealth, including the risks to confidentiality and data security, potential for connection disruption, insurance issues, and other ways in which telehealth differs from in-person health care services.