Telehealth
Challenge: Healthcare providers are rapidly shifting from in-person services to virtual telehealth capabilities whenever possible to ensure that individuals’ health, behavioral and social needs are addressed while also working to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Policymakers are quickly amending regulations to support the rapid deployment of virtual access to care. While providers have welcomed these changes, they must make unprecedented changes at swift speeds such as shifting the workforce and mobilizing technologies while also ensuring adequate documentation to ensure payment.
Telehealth in the COVID-19 Environment
Over the past few years, healthcare providers have been making significant strides in adopting these remote practices and technology. However, we have never experienced a need to ramp up remote health in response to an emergency the magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the essential topics that providers must navigate to deploy or expand this capacity include:
- Understanding the rapidly changing regulations and implications for their practice
- Understanding the different allowable modalities and how to bill for them
- Rapidly accessing technologies including access to call management systems or even mobile telephones and telephone lines
- Preparing for the next wave of telehealth needs for additional expansion
- Shifting workforce to remote practices that protect workers yet ensure accountability and productivity
- Understanding changes in HIPAA regulations and ensuring continued diligence to safeguard privacy protections balanced with access to needed healthcare and supports
- Navigating the overarching federal, state and payor billing requirements
- Beginning now to plan for future telehealth needs once the initial emergency subsides, including organizational readiness, best-fit technology selection, implementation, and financing
Mobilizing Remote Health
HMA for years has been supporting clients to conduct readiness assessments, select telehealth technologies, prepare the workforce for virtual work, establish contracts for reimbursement and evaluate the effectiveness of these programs. HMA has streamlined our tools to support rapid implementation of telehealth. To support these efforts and to assist our clients, we have been tracking the federal and state regulatory changes and understand how these changes can be leveraged to rapidly and successfully adopt solutions.
At HMA, we have the expertise to best help you navigate this rapidly changing landscape to address the near-term critical needs as well as begin the next phase of planning. Contact us at the link below and let us help you today.
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