Should Medicare continue to encourage the use of telehealth when the COVID-19 pandemic ends?
Should it continue to pay for telehealth when the there is no “tele” in the service and it is audio only?
And should Medicare pay different rates for visits in person, telehealth visits, and audio-only (that is, telephone) visits?
These were among the questions addressed by members of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission during their public meetings last week.
Members also discussed the need for further analysis of the effectiveness of telehealth and audio-only visits, how to identify audio-only visits on Medicare claims, how to collect data from home health agencies and hospices, which are not required to submit telehealth data, and more.
Learn more about what MedPAC is thinking about the use of telehealth in the future in the MedPage Today article “Medicare Advisors Consider Post-Pandemic Telehealth Pay Policy.”