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March 21, 2016 | Telehealth CONNECT Act: What You Need to Know

Avid followers of telehealth know the subject of reimbursements for the proper use of this technology remains heavily contested. A plethora of policy debates and regulatory issues continue to hinder the ability to pay physicians for their efforts to improve care.

That all stands to change with a new bill making its rounds through Congress this month: The Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies for Health Act or CONNECT.

At its core, CONNECT seeks to remove longstanding barriers that are currently impeding the ability to treat Medicare patients using telehealth and remote patient monitoring (RPM) tools.

What you need to know about the Telehealth CONNECT Act:

• Ensure telehealth and RPM services are basic benefits within Medicare Advantage: Originating telehealth sites will now include telestroke evaluation and management sites. It will also include Native American health service facilities and dialysis facilities. It will as well expand telehealth and RPM use in community health centers and rural health clinics.
• Loop into MACRA: Qualifying providers participating in MACRA’s alternative payment models will be allowed to use patient monitoring for patients with chronic conditions.
• Widespread support: 67 professional organizations have expressed their support for CONNECT. Organizations include AARP, American Health Insurance Plans, the American Heart Association, and Kaiser Permanente.
• Potential for cost savings is huge: Experts believe it could save the healthcare industry $1.8 billion over the next 10 years.

Wellbox has been helping physicians to achieve reimbursements through Medicare’s Chronic Care Management program for years now. We have witnessed firsthand the difference that these services make in the lives of patients for whom regular care doesn’t suffice.

With this evidence in hand, we applaud the effort of the CONNECT Act to bring the issue of telehealth reimbursement to the forefront of the national discussion around telehealth.  It is especially rewarding to see how remote patient monitoring and telehealth work hand-in-hand in the remote care ecosphere. For years, physician practices have altruistically sought new solutions to improve the care of their valued patients – now is the time to pay them for using one that truly works.