From the archive: the billing codes and CMS waivers below applied during the 2020 COVID-19 public health emergency. Check current CMS guidance before billing.
During the COVID-19 public health emergency, telehealth offers medical practices the ability to continue caring for their patients, both those with and those without COVID-19.
To limit the exposure of patients who are sick or at risk due to other conditions, and to protect healthcare workers and the community, practices are strongly encouraged to use telehealth whenever possible and to consider establishing protocols and procedures for practice staff and clinicians. Now in a full state of emergency, many Medicare restrictions related to telehealth have been lifted.
Patients can be at home. Although CMS has relaxed HIPAA enforcement to some degree, practitioners are still expected to use HIPAA-secure platforms like Buzz Secure Medical Messenger and to work within the law’s parameters.
Although Buzz was designed before the COVID-19 pandemic, Skyscape has optimized the platform with several design elements built to address current issues and regulations. During this unprecedented emergency, the healthcare community, municipalities and federal agencies are all grappling with new challenges. Buzz is solving real problems and offers tangible solutions for today’s healthcare reality.
Buzz promotes organization and synchronization, which are especially important in these chaotic and uncharted times. It is built so that no matter what the world brings, clinicians can focus on providing the highest quality care in the most cost-effective and safe manner possible.
Specialists and practitioners are now allowed to carry out remote consultations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Please refer to this summary of billing codes for specialists who provide doc to doc and formal consultations.
