By Carol Hoppe, CPC, CCS-P, CPC-I
Medicare recently made significant updates to the
Telehealth Services Fact Sheet (MLN901705 June 2023). Many of the changes came about under the
Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023. Since the Public Health Emergency (PHE) is officially over, many of the flexibilities we used for telehealth services during COVID-19 have been extended through Dec. 31, 2024, and some of them are now permanent. Key points from the policy include:
Consent for Care Management and Virtual Communication Services
Medicare requires patient consent for all services, including non-face-to-face services. You may get patient consent at the same time you initially provide the services. Auxiliary personnel under general supervision of the billing practitioner can get patient consent for these services. The person getting the consent can be an employee, independent contractor, or leased employee of the billing practitioner.
For more information, please review the
Telehealth Services Fact Sheet.