Telehealth for Treatment of Substance Use Disorders

As part of the CY 2019 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an interim final rule with comment period to expand the use of telehealth for the treatment of substance use disorders and co-occurring mental health disorders. Existing law provides for reimbursement of telehealth services only if the originating site is located in a rural health professional shortage area, is not in a metropolitan statistical area or is an entity that participates in a federal telemedicine demonstration project. The originating site must also be one of a specific type of facility, such as a hospital, physician’s office or skilled nursing facility. With respect to telehealth services used to treat a substance use disorder or co-occurring mental health disorders, the interim final rule removes the originating site geographic restrictions and permits a patient’s home to be an originating site. When the patient’s home is used as the originating site for telehealth services, Medicare will pay no facility fee. The interim final rule is effective for telehealth services performed on or after July 1, 2019. CMS is requesting comments on the interim final rule, and the comment period closes January 22, 2019.
Continue Reading 2019 Physician Fee Schedule Rule Review: Use of Telehealth Expanded