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ATA Lauds CMS for Final Rule on Privileging for Telehealth Providers, Support of Telemedicine

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--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. 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 privileging of private telemedicine providers in Medicare hospitals was not in the draft rule; the subsequent addition of these vital telehealth service providers reflects the comments of ATA and it’s members.”

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.”

The American Telemedicine Association has actively petitioned CMS to ease privileging obstacles and comments from ATA members were instrumental in the outcome of the final rule.

“CMS was very responsive to the comments and concerns of the telemedicine community,” said Jonathan Linkous, CEO of the American Telemedicine Association. “The privileging of private telemedicine providers in Medicare hospitals was not in the draft rule; the subsequent addition of these vital telehealth service providers reflects the comments of ATA and it’s members.”

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.ofr.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2011-10875_PI.pdf

ATA applauds the leadership of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for their support of telemedicine.

The American Telemedicine Association (www.americantelemed.org) is the leading resource and advocate promoting the use of advanced remote medical technologies. ATA and its diverse membership, works to fully integrate telemedicine into transformed healthcare systems to improve quality, equity and affordability of healthcare.

Contacts
American Telemedicine Association
Ben Forstag, Director of Communications
202-223-1721
bforstag@americantelemed.org


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CMS’ TeleMed Rule Eases Physician Credentialing

Margaret Dick Tocknell, for HealthLeaders Media, May 6, 2011


A new rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is expected to make it easier for small and critical access hospitals to use telemedicine to link with physicians and other larger hospitals or academic medical centers. The change will also make it easier for small hospitals in underserved areas to access specialty services such as teleradiology, teleICU, and telestroke.

The final rule revises the conditions of participation for hospitals and CAHs by implementing a new credentialing and privileging process for physicians and practitioners who provide telemedicine services.

Each hospital and CAH will no longer be required to credential and grant privileges to each physician and practitioner who provides telemedicine services to its patients from a distant hospital or other telemedicine location. Instead, hospitals can rely on the credentialing and privileging decisions of the distant hospital.

For small hospitals and CAHs in rural areas and regions where there may be a limited supply of primary care and specialist physicians, telemedicine can provide more flexible and cost-effective medical care.

Groups such as the American Telemedicine Association, the American Medical Association, and the American Hospital Association have been lobbying for years for the change. Among the complaints: The old system were particularly burdensome for small hospitals, which often lack the staff and the financial resources to confirm the privileges of individual telehealth physicians.

Under the current system, rural hospitals often contract for specific telemedicine services and physician groups. The new rule will mean rural hospitals will have access to a larger pool of physicians and services, explained Mona Moore, director of operations at the Georgia Partnership for Telehealth in Waycross. "This rule allows facility-to-facility credentialing. If a hospital in Waycross has a telehealth contract with a medical center in Atlanta then all of those physicians are automatically credentialed for the Waycross hospital."

Christopher Green