The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) has been extended yet again to October 15th, 2022. Therefore the telehealth waivers remain in effect.
A recent change to telehealth billing, billers need to be aware of an additional Place of Service code. What changed? Effective January 1, 2022, in addition to the CMS POS code 02, CMS introduced a second telehealth, POS code 10:
It is also important to know that some carriers are on board while others are not. Contacting contracted carriers or checking their websites is very important in order to determine their status on the POS issue.
Most dermatologists that are providing telehealth services have not been indicating in notes where the patient is calling from since the waivers removed the originating site requirements. Now it is necessary to ask the patient if they are calling from home and document it.
When performing telehealth services, it is wise to communicate to your billers the POS. Additionally, be sure to append the 95 or GT modifier, if needed, to identify the visit as a telehealth service.
CMS is also proposing several new policies regarding Medicare telehealth for calendar year 2023 to make some of the temporary PHE telehealth services available under Category 3 basis through CY 2023 in order to gather more data to support adding more telehealth services to the permanent list of services.
These policies would extend the waiver flexibilities, currently in place, due to the PHE to continue for 151 days after the end of PHE such as allowing telehealth services to be provided in any geographic area and in any originating site, including the patient’s home.
The proposed rule can be reviewed for the CY 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule at:
Read more from our published resources:
A Surefire Way to Increase Practice Income and Reduce Overhead in 2022
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About Inga Ellzey and our Dermatology Billing Services
After 27 years of perfecting billing processes, Inga Ellzey continues to be the nation’s leading expert in dermatology billing. Our billing service serves over 100 dermatology practices in 37 states without utilizing any offshore labor. Our goal is to make sure that you and your patients receive the most competent and professional service available on the market today.
If you are interested in speaking with our company about how we can maximize your collections while also improving your process, please contact us or call 888-434-4374.
