“President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday targeting the improvement of health care for patients and medical providers in rural communities, expanding access to telehealth services in those areas and elsewhere and extending some telehealth flexibilities prompted by the pandemic to last permanently beyond it.”
“Months ahead of the 2020 presidential election that has candidates chasing rural votes, the move also comes on the heels of a mega surge in demand for telehealth appointments in the U.S., as the threat of catching COVID-19 forced people to pivot typically in-person experiences to virtual visits…”
“Early into the new pandemic-induced reality, federal agencies including the Veterans Affairs and Defense departments and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services rapidly adjusted to boost telehealth and telemedicine services offered in their wheelhouses. With direction from the administration after COVID-19 emerged, CMS was able to get rid of what Administrator Seema Verma called ‘restrictive regulation’ on a background press call Monday, which ultimately allowed for telehealth services to be accessed by approved patients across America—and not solely in rural areas. The agency enabled telehealth to be offered at more health care sites and increased the types of providers who can offer up telehealth to include physical therapists, speech language pathologists, those practicing from rural health clinics and federally qualified health centers. CMS also added 135 services that can be provided via telehealth, according to Verma, including emergency department visits, mental health services, eye exams and more…” Read the full article here.
Source: Trump Executive Order Aims to Make Some Pandemic-Induced Telehealth Expansions Permanent – By Brandi Vincent, August 4, 2020. Nextgov.
