Oncology & Hematology Coding Alert

Policymakers are examining all aspects of telemedicine lately — from promoting improved care coordination to ensuring proper reimbursement. But a recent telemedicine policy hasn’t left out patient privacy either.

On June 11, the American Medical Association (AMA) released a list of “guiding principles” for telemedicine services. The list comes on the heels of a policy report from the AMA’s Council on Medical Services addressing coverage and payment for telemedicine.

And although the AMA’s guiding principles include a wide range of issues, including telemedicine payment rules and ways to improve health outcomes, they also address the unique challenges of maintaining patient privacy and HIPAA compliance while providing telemedicine services.

Links: The AMA’s June 11 announcement is available at www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/news/news/2014/2014-06-11-policy-coverage-reimbursement-for-telemedicine.page .

To read the policy report, a link is available within the announcement link above, but you must be a member to view it at this time. The link for members requiring login is: download.ama-assn.org/resources/doc/hod/x-pub/a14-cms-report-7.pdf.