2020 – Telehealth Getting Started Part 2

Small steps for small practices …. on Telehealth Getting Started PART 1 we listed a set of considerations and key resources to implement Telehealth. Part II will delve a bit deeper into some of those items and steps to get started quickly.

Telemedicine was not a top priority a few weeks ago, but it is here to stay and not just because of COVID-19. Patient experience and positive results from Telehealth are setting high expectations from the patient perspective that require leading healthcare authorities to take a second look at the temporary regulation changes and make them permanent to keep promoting Telehealth.

It is in the patient’s best interest for all private practices to offer Telehealth services now. Here is a guideline for next steps to get started.

Like in any other situation, “Keep CCC” – Keep Cool Calm and Collected and set positive expectations. This is not as bad as it looks.

Guidelines to get started with Telehealth

The following is only a guide as every practice has a different set of requirements and objectives that dictate how their project plan would look to implement Telehealth.  

  1. Technology is the backbone of telehealth and the experience your patients will take away with these new types of services. To implement requires due diligence; it is not a one size fits all, and keeping quality in mind makes virtual encounters the best patient experience.
  2. Identify the Telehealth services for your practice. For example, Medicare has four approved types: Telehealth visits, Virtual Check-ins, e-Visits and Telephone visits. Know what is required for documenting these services, for coding and billing and what commercial payers require.
  3. Patient notification. Identify the ways to communicate with your patients to promote the new services. Know what is required by the patient and be sure your staff is comfortable with the technology. Use test patients and practice, practice, practice.  
  4. Training is the lifeblood of successful implementations. Clinicians, staff and patients need to be trained. Practice is the best trainer, and daily practice among staff and clinicians builds confidence.
  5. Billing. Obviously, a key action item which requires careful planning and coordination to ensure new policies and procedures are enforced throughout the entire Revenue Cycle, so claims get paid. Omitting new specific modifiers and/or ignoring waivers rules will cause rejects and denials. Seek assistance when in doubt.
  6. HIPAA and Security. These two go hand in hand and although the telehealth floodgates have been opened, policies for safeguarding PHI must continue; after all it is about securing your patient’s data. The discretion to allow the use of non-compliant services (such as FaceTime, Skype, or Facebook Messenger) is leaving many questions. To help address the concerns, OCR released a new set of FAQs covering telehealth and HIPAA, at least for the duration of the pandemic.

HIPAA compliance does not mean having a manual on the shelf and virus protection software on the computers. It is accomplished when Infrastructure Security meets HIPAA requirements while clinicians and staff follow and enforce HIPAA and security policies thru procedures and practice management.  

Stay tuned for tips on selecting a Telehealth Vendor

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