CMS is slowly but surely adding some codes for payment of limited telehealth services — this year, it's certain consultations to follow up on patients the remote physician has seen in person. I spoke with the editor of Physician Compensation & Recruitment about the subject, noting that while it's the wave of the future, the benefits and burdens of telehealth — e.g., quality improvement and privacy concerns, respectively, go well beyond the individual encounter and raise a variety of systems ramifications.
See the full article on p. 10 of the October 2008 issue of Physician Compensation & Recruitment, published by HCPro.
David Harlow
The Harlow Group LLC
Health Care Law and Consulting
