Dive Brief:
- A new study published this month in Telemedicine and e-Health concludes that despite some progress in getting private payers to cover telehealth, these changes are coming slowly.
- The study, which was conducted by the American Telemedicine Association, polled its members in 2012 regarding their experiences with reimbursement for telehealth.
- It found that among other issues, administrative rules that treat telehealth differently than in-person care can be a barrier to providing care remotely. Differences include the need for preauthorization, use of code modifiers and more denials than for in-person care.
Dive Insight:
Progress is definitely being made when it comes to telehealth reimbursement. For example, some states have enacted "parity" laws that require equal reimbursement for telehealth services that mirror in-person services. Still, 48% of ATA respondents said they did not provide telemedicine services because they were not reimbursed. It appears that there may be a long road ahead before telemedicine reimbursement is commonplace.