Increased Importance of Telehealth in Small Practices

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Increased Importance of Telehealth in Small
Practices

• Increased Importance of Telehealth
• Small practices tried their best to survive
  during the COVID-19 pandemic and telehealth
  helped them a lot to survive in these challenging
  times. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of
  telemedicine has only grown in importance.
  Experts predict that by 2025, the size of the
  telehealth market will reach 17.2 billion. In a
  world where social distancing has become the new
  norm, medical providers need to offer patients
  alternatives to traditional in-office visits.
• Research also shows that small medical practices
  are turning to telehealth in increasing numbers
  for many other reasons. These include things like
  increasing patient satisfaction, improving the
  quality of care, and reaching patients that
  struggle to make it in for in-person visits. Some
  of the interesting facts that highlight the
  increased importance of telehealth in small
  practices are as follows
• 79 of patients reported that scheduling
  telehealth follow-up visits are more convenient
  than arranging traditional in-person office
  follow-ups
• Approximately half of all American adults
  reported avoiding going to the doctor due to the
  cost
• 1-in-5 people have delayed seeing a doctor,
  reporting that doctor visits to take too long
• Overburdened doctors spend an average of just 20
  minutes with each patient

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Increased Importance of Telehealth in Small
Practices

• Patients in rural areas experience a lack of
  access to medical care. Rural patients live an
  average of 17 minutes from the nearest hospital
  while 25 live more than 30 minutes away
• Widespread Adoption of Telehealth
• Over the past few years, CMS has dramatically
  increased both the frequency and scope of
  telehealth reimbursement, these efforts
  multiplied during the outbreak of COVID-19. On
  March 6, 2020, the President signed into law the
  Coronavirus Preparedness and Response
  Supplemental Appropriations Act (the Act). The
  Act included a provision allowing the Department
  of Health and Human Services (HHS) to waive
  certain Medicare telehealth payment restrictions.
• What this means is that patients that were not
  previously eligible for telehealth services, like
  that outside of rural areas or living at home,
  are now eligible. The waiver of these
  restrictions occurred under Section 1135 of the
  Social Security Act and is known as an 1135
  Waiver. HHS also announced that it will waive
  potential penalties for HIPAA violations during
  the pandemic. What is interesting about the
  governments actions is that they further
  validate the effectiveness of telemedicine to
  treat patients.

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Increased Importance of Telehealth in Small
Practices
In a world where social distancing may become the
new norm, it will be interesting to see whether
the measures will be adopted on a long-term
basis. If so, the use of telehealth will only
increase beyond its already exponential growth.
Providers that fail to adapt to this changing
landscape will be left behind. Increased
Practice Revenue Small medical practices are
especially concerned that incorporating
telehealth into their practices would hurt their
bottom lines. Providers offering telehealth
services are able to see more patients in the
same amount of time. This is because telehealth
appointments are more efficient than in-person
visits. There are also fewer cancellations and
no-shows, and practices can experience revenue
growth without having to hire additional staff or
acquire more office space. Telemedicine also
opens a new revenue stream. Many providers
conduct follow-ups with patients over the phone.
Providers are not reimbursed for these
calls. However, providers that conduct
follow-ups with patients using telemedicine
technology are reimbursed. Consider a small
practice with two physicians. Suppose each
physician took on a modest 3 telemedicine
appointments per day or a total of 30 per week.
At an average reimbursement rate of 72, the
practice would bring in an additional 112,320
per year in revenue, all without increasing their
working hours.
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Increased Importance of Telehealth in Small
Practices
The practice will also have significantly reduced
their costs and freed up desperately needed
resources. Most importantly, providers will put
more money into their pockets.   Telehealth is
here to stay Telehealth is revolutionizing the
healthcare industry. In recent years, small
medical practices have begun offering their
patients telemedicine services at increasing
rates. With the outbreak of the COVID-19
pandemic, telemedicine services are needed now
more than ever. The health of the American public
depends on patients having alternatives to
traditional in-person medical treatment. If you
are worried about telehealth reimbursements then
think about outsourcing your telehealth billing
to Medical Billers and Coders (MBC).   Telehealth
billing can be confusing since codes are
relatively new and guidelines are constantly
changing. We can assist you in complete revenue
cycle management and can bring maximum revenue
for offered telehealth services. To know more
about our telehealth billing and coding services,
contact us at info_at_medicalbillersandcoders.com/888
-357-3226.