The telehealth benefits expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic expired Oct. 1 and the federal government ended CMS reimbursement for many virtual visits.
Hospitals and physician groups have set up broad infrastructure for virtual care and telehealth visits, assuming Congress would eventually make the benefit permanent. Telehealth programs expand access to care and boost interactions between patients and clinicians. But now health systems are grappling to save a service patients like without the funding to keep it afloat.
NYU Langone Health in New York City posted a note on its website telling Medicare and Medicaid patients they’d be unable to schedule new telehealth and virtual visits due to the government shutdown, and offered to schedule in-person visits. Nebraska Medicine in Omaha is taking a proactive approach, reaching out to patients with telehealth visits scheduled to either pay out of pocket or reschedule for in-person visits.
Cleveland Clinic is monitoring the situation, a spokesperson told Becker’s Giles Bruce for a recent article, and continues to provide care compliant with regulatory guidelines.
Chesterfield, Mo.-based Mercy is still providing telehealth for patients as a “lifeline” to the community, and hopes the federal government will provide back pay when the shutdown ends.
Telehealth and virtual care has also extended the workforce in recent years, as clinicians who otherwise would have left the profession or retired can serve more patients virtually. These experienced leaders support patients and clinicians in the hospital, and have become an important strategy for health systems navigating clinician shortages.
Professional organizations and health systems have advocated for expanding telehealth and virtual care benefits permanently, especially as a low-cost way to improve quality of care.
