CMS allows direct supervision through telehealth

As telehealth is granted unprecedented freedoms during the COVID-19 crisis, physicians are not only eligible to add additional services to their list, but they can now provide direct supervision electronically as well.
 
That's according to the interim final rule CMS released March 31, where the agency said is was revising the definition of direct supervision for the duration of the public health emergency (PHE) for the COVID-19 pandemic. During the PHE, CMS will allow direct supervision "to be provided using real-time interactive audio and video technology."
 
"We recognize that in some cases, technology would allow appropriate supervision without the physical presence of a physician," the agency states.
 
CMS adds that "the use of real-time, audio and video telecommunications technology allows for a billing practitioner to observe the patient interacting with or responding to the in-person clinical staff through virtual means, and thus, their availability to furnish assistance and direction could be met without requiring the physician’s physical presence in that location."
 
How that plays out in practice, however, remains an open question. The rule seems to leave several questions unanswered. For instance, can the nonphysician pracitioner who is treating the patient—and potentially billing under incident to rules—conduct the encounter via telehealth? Also, does the supervising physician have to be connected on a live audio-and-video channel during the encounter, or must the physician simply be available on the channel?

Source: Part B News