Horizons Fall/Winter 2020

The U.S. will need to find a way to incentivize healthcare providers to share data. New guidelines from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may provide a first step in overcoming the technical (and potential economic) barriers to health information exchange. The U.S. must also support telehealth within legislation and regulatory measures. CMS has provided a wide variety of policies to expand telehealth services during the pandemic. These expansions include: ∙ Waiving limits on the types of clinical practitioners that can use Medicare telehealth services ∙ Allowing hospitals to bill for telehealth services to Medicare patients registered as hospital outpatients even when at home ∙ Increasing payments for telehealth visits to match those of in-person visits ∙ Expanding payments for telehealth services to rural health clinics and federally qualified health clinics Regulatory organizations such as the Department of Justice (DOJ) must balance the expansive measures by CMS by working with HHS to detect and stop fraud that may occur from new opportunities and scams created by the growth of telehealth. By

doing so, the DOJ can maintain a telehealth system that can provide great benefit to all American citizens. As the U.S. begins to recover from the pandemic and plans for a new period of healthcare post-COVID-19, telehealth will continue to change the way healthcare is delivered in the US. Providers will need to reexamine their business models to ensure that telehealth services can be effectively and efficiently provided to patients as needed.

HEALTHCARE SERVICES

RubinBrown’s Healthcare Services Group provides a broad array of services to a diverse group of clients in the healthcare industry including hospitals, physician practices, multi-site medical groups and not-for-profit health organizations.

Tom Zetlmeisl, CPA, CFE, CFF, CGMA Partner-In-Charge Healthcare Services 314.290.3395 thomas.zetlmeisl@rubinbrown.com

Max Langmack Consultant Healthcare Services 816.859.7960 max.langmack@rubinbrown.com

Fall/Winter 2020

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