Have you increased the amount of Telehealth visits with your patients?
If not, you and your patients may be missing out.
Over the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the landscape of patient care and increased the need for providers to utilize virtual healthcare services. Due to the Public Health Emergency (PHE) policy update, many healthcare practices had to shut down, pause or augment their services with telemedicine to provide flexibility in patient support.
Here are four ways Telehealthcare has been implemented to provide safe, necessary care for patients while augmenting revenue.
- Stop the Spread of Contagions
With the need to quarantine, social distance, and reduce the risk for clinic staff and patients, many health practices adapted ways of providing non-emergency services. For patients with (possible) highly contagious diseases, such as COVID-19, many clinics ask patients to schedule virtual appointments to avoid possible infections and further outbreaks. This allows for keeping both the staff and patients as safe as possible while still receiving necessary treatment. - Provide Essential Health Services
For those patients that suffer from White Coat Syndrome going to the doctor’s office causes a great deal of stress and anxiety. By allowing patients to access care in the comfort of their own home for managing chronic health conditions, routine services, prescriptions, and referrals for testing and labs, this allows for greater patient access. Plus, it has the added benefit of reduced overhead costs associated with cleaning and turning exam rooms. - Provide Physical and Occupational Therapy Healthcare
Accidents happen. Whether motor vehicle accidents, workplace injuries, or trips and falls – PT and OT is imperative to keep patients mobile and progressing. Many providers offer hybrid services with virtual appointments for patients to keep them mobile while supervising and adapting exercises in their home environments. - Provide Mental and Behavioral Healthcare
Mental and behavioral healthcare is one of many patient-care needs. This is especially true for long-term residential care. Many nursing home facilities transitioned to telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, via the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) heavily promoted the switch to Telehealth as infection prevention and control measures. They’ve made digital resources available that offer behavioral health and best practice guides for long-term nursing homes, a telemedicine tool kit, as well as other guidance.
If you think your practice and patients can benefit from implementing telehealth visits stay tuned for our next article on 5 Resources for Implementing Telehealth & Telemedicine.
Mariellen Mezzacappa has a variety of experience in the medical field. She has worked for doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, and insurance companies. Her experience includes bill review and coding with a wide range from EAPG 3M, DRG, Workers Compensation to Appeals and coder Affidavits for Litigation. She provides verification of code selection for operation reports, documentation review, and credentialing. Additionally, she has worked on operation policies, compliance training, and project management.
MedCycle Solutions provides Revenue Cycle Management, Credentialing, Outsourced Coding, and Consulting Services to a number of healthcare providers in a variety of specialties. To find out more about MedCycle Solutions services please visit www.MedCycleSolutions.com.
