Home Health & Hospice Week

The extent to which pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities get made permanent may depend on the results of the HHS Office of Inspector General’s scrutiny of the topic.

“It is important that new policies and technologies with potential to improve care and enhance convenience achieve these goals and are not compromised by fraud, abuse, or misuse,” HHS OIG Principal Deputy Inspector General Christi Grimm says in a new statement. “OIG is conducting significant oversight work assessing telehealth services during the public health emergency. Once complete, these reviews will provide objective findings and recommendations that can further inform policymakers and other stakeholders considering what telehealth flexibilities should be permanent.”

Last month, the OIG added “Audit of Home Health Services Provided as Telehealth During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency” to its Work Plan (see HCW by AAPC, Vol. XXX, No. 5). Industry observers expect a similar audit of hospice telehealth services may follow.

Timeline: “We anticipate the first work products to be published later this year,” Grimm says. “As our work and the national conversation continues, OIG believes there is a shared goal: ensuring that telehealth delivers quality, convenient care for patients and is not compromised by fraud. As we continue our COVID-19 oversight and enforcement work, we look forward to providing objective, independent information to stakeholders and policymakers.”