The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has made a bold statement in support of telemedicine by streamlining the credentialing and privileging of telehealth providers delivering services to Medicare hospitals.
Eliminating the red tape
By simplifying how hospitals and non-hospital providers privilege doctors who remotely treat patients, CMS has lowered the administrative burden of delivering telehealth and telemedicine services.
The new rule particularly helps small hospitals in rural and isolated areas by making it easier to access remote specialty services via telemedicine. Medicare will now privilege telehealth practices such as teleradiology, teleICU and telestroke, whether they are delivered directly by the hospital or by an outside clinical vendor.
“CMS’ new rules will truly help patients receive the care they need, no matter where they live or where their doctor is located,” said Dale Alverson, MD, President of the American Telemedicine Association.
“By eliminating the overly burdensome credentialing and privileging rules in Medicare, CMS has shown it’s growing support of telemedicine.”
Dale Alverson, MD
Read the final ruling
The final rule was announced May 2, 2011 and will go into effect July 2, 2011. A full copy of the rule is available at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-05-05/pdf/2011-10875.pdf
