Industry groups have The alarm has been sounded recently Regarding the so-called “telemedicine cliff”. But after living for more than a year during the pandemic, will virtual visits disappear so quickly?
After the events of 2020, it’s hard to imagine that virtual visits will disappear, even if More patients choose face-to-face appointmentsExperts stated in a panel discussion on HIMSS digital that, on the contrary, healthcare providers may face a variety of different policies between states and programs.
Ateev Mehrotra, associate professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School, said: “This will be one of my main concerns, namely that there will be reimbursements, but navigating through the maze of payment policies will become so difficulty.”
For example, he is currently talking to a provider that provides treatment for opioid use disorder based on telemedicine. Currently, public health emergencies have standardized many regulations related to virtual and substance use treatment. But this will quickly become complicated because states have different regulations regarding reimbursement, medical licenses, and prescriptions.
“I think in general, we have won the licensing battle,” adds Dr. Peter Antall, Amwell’s Chief Medical Officer. “I think we have been stuck on reimbursement for many years. It’s not that there is no reimbursement from the payer, but inconsistency.”
Questions about whether telemedicine will increase the risk of fraud and whether it is cost-effective have hindered the overall transformation of the industry.One concern is that virtual visits may be and also Mehrotra said that convenience and increased health care spending, although this is not always a bad thing.
With the slow progress of legislative action, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has at least shelved many temporary provisions.In its proposed 2022 doctor’s fee schedule, the agency Proposal to continue most of the current telemedicine regulations By the end of 2023, at the same time, it will expand its remote mental health coverage more permanently.
But one of the biggest policy decisions actually depends on Congress. Current telemedicine site restrictions restrict medical insurance coverage to telemedicine unless patients live in rural areas and visit in medical institutions. These restrictions have been written into the social security law and can only be changed by legislators.
Although the removal of these restrictions has gained bipartisan support, it has not yet happened.
Find the best environment for patients
For some people, the sudden shift in telemedicine regulations during the pandemic changed their lives. For Stacy Hurt, a stage IV colorectal cancer survivor who also took care of her son with a rare disease, she finally got what she sought from a doctor 15 years later.
“After reaching (my son’s) diagnosis, we saw 60 different experts. It was always the same. Someone saw it, ordered a test, and then came back to see it again,” she said. “He can’t walk around, so we have to lift him from the floor to his wheelchair, enter the accessible van, come out again to bring him in. And all the time, his immunosuppression… I keep asking “Can we do this through a computer? I was told no, no, no.”
She added that being able to complete some of their dates virtually “let us relax a lot”.
Hurt is a patient consultant who has worked in the healthcare field for 20 years. He believes that the interstate license for telemedicine is necessary, which may save cancer patients who are not near the NCI cancer center, otherwise they may have to travel across the country to obtain Second opinion.
Access to reliable broadband is also important, and the Covid-19 relief plan passed earlier this year has set aside some funds for this purpose.
“Universal access to broadband is a real problem. I can especially tell you patients who go to cafes and libraries to talk about their health problems over wifi,” Hutt said.
If their home is not a safe place, people may also face the challenge of telemedicine.
Ultimately, in order for telemedicine to be successful in the long term, Hurt said that providers must communicate their choices with patients and, more importantly, listen.
“Listen to your patients and make sure they have everything they need to ensure high-quality virtual visits,” she said.
Photo credit: syolacan, Getty Images
