The federal government needs to take stronger action in informing Medicare patients about their rights to privacy and security surrounding their medical and health data following the dramatic surge in telehealth uses during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new oversight report.
The Government Accountability Office examined the telehealth care used by the Health and Human Services Department for Medicare patients during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to a sudden influx in need, HHS officials temporarily waived select Medicare restrictions on telehealth…
The GAO summary highlights the lack of actionable data describing the number of video telehealth visits made to Medicare patients throughout the latter part of 2020. Researchers link this to a lack of accurate billing codes insurance companies use to track telehealth and virtual appointments. Thus, the agency’s recommendations primarily ask the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to adjust their service codes to give health care providers more billing options.
GAO authors also recommended that HHS’s OCR provide supplementary education and outreach to help providers convey the privacy and security risks associated with patients using virtual health care services…
