How Telehealth Medical Billing Services will Make You Rich

3 min readMar 23, 2020

According to the American Hospital Association (AHA), up to 76% of US hospitals connect with remote patients and consult practitioners through the use of video and other technology, known as telehealth services.”

Medical billing services for telehealth services as Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements have always been a difficult topic. Treating remote patients and measuring the quality outcomes is indeed not as easy as it seems for physicians. When it’s time for reporting for QPP MIPS, MIPS Qualified Registries face hurdles in terms of calculating points.

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Surely, the data submission for MIPS reporting and claim compilation becomes double the efforts.

CCHP — The Center for Connected Health Policy has recently published a guide regarding telehealth-based Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. The purpose is to offer a simple solution to all the billing complexities and ambiguities related to:

· Remote patient monitoring

· Virtual healthcare services

· Mobile health services

· Real-time (Synchronous) telehealth services

· Record and broadcast (Asynchronous) telehealth services

A Brief Introduction

While offering solutions to the complex billing services, the report also gives insights into some terminologies that physicians may confuse.

Distant Site is a location where the healthcare provider is providing care service via telecommunication.

The location can be any site and not just a clinic or healthcare facility as specified by the California Department of Health Care Services.

Originating Site is the location of the Medicare beneficiary outside the metropolitan area or in a specified location.

Moreover, with careful considerations, it is observed that billing for telehealth services can vary based on the type of care received and the healthcare plan. Medical billing companies can also help physicians bind their telehealth plan with chronic care management and transitional care management for better reimbursement outcomes.

Billing services also vary against patients’ demographics. For Instance, the report states that if the location is a pediatric clinic, the billing policies will be followed as private payers and Medicaid. A better approach to the bill in such cases is via binding a contract with FQHCs — Federally Qualified Health Centers to better accommodate quality services to patients.

Overall, the payment method for this model of care depends highly on rules implemented state-wise and on the chosen billing practices.

What Other Factors Impact Telehealth Services?

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This has to keep in mind that care services are not considered as telehealth but the technology itself and it affects the billing solutions.

Policy for the Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs)

This year, home health workers will be able to check patients at distance. This facility was not provided in previous years.

Telehealth — A Way Forward for Progressive Healthcare System

Telehealth is important for improving the quality of care and empowering remote patients. It’s evident as day and night that people with lesser medical facilities can take advantage of technology; where the doctors can’t reach patients, technology can!

The benefits of these virtual visits also extend to physicians. The burden on primary care providers can be reduced via technology. However, if we don’t solve the reimbursement issues related to telehealth; physicians may not be able to enjoy this method and score for the Improvement Activities (IA) performance category for MIPS.

Patients also have to be educated in this matter right from the start that how they’ll receive the telehealth services and what benefits they can get. This way, physicians and medical billing companies on their behalf don’t get any issue afterward while compiling data for claims and even for MIPS reporting.

Why Consider Telehealth?

Offering telehealth services is a way to support patients who don’t have enough resources to access quality healthcare.

Technology has been a game-changer in every field including the healthcare industry; it has the potential to bridge the gap in compromising areas.

Sure, it is challenging for medical billing services to get reimbursements for physicians in this sector. However, by keeping an eye on the latest billing trends and telehealth billing guidelines, they are achievable.

In addition, by attesting to MIPS program 2020 measures for telehealth, MIPS eligible clinicians (ECs) can maximize reimbursements with incentives and bonuses. How good is that!