Home Health & Hospice Week

Home health agencies that furnish Part B outpatient therapy in the home should keep their eyes on legislation. Rehab services delivered via telehealth would no longer be excluded from Medicare reimbursement if the Medicare Telehealth Parity Act of 2014 becomes law. This bill, introduced in the House of Representatives this summer, would not only expand Medicare coverage of telemedicine beyond rural areas but would include PTs, OTs, and SLPs under covered providers.

While telehealth may be a limited practice due to reimbursement constraints, experts predict that a law like this could open big doors to quality care, patient access, reimbursement opportunities, and cost savings.

“It would galvanize a huge leap forward in the implementation of telepractice in healthcare settings,” says Janet Brown of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association. “A lot of people can’t even start thinking about implementing those programs until they see a revenue stream from Medicare, Medicaid, or private practice.”