Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
New posts
New media
New media comments
Latest activity
Classifieds
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Log in
Register
What's New?
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Navigation
Install the app
Install
More Options
Advertise with us
Contact Us
Close Menu
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Forums
The Water Cooler
General Discussion
Some Doctors are cancelling appointments
Search titles only
By:
Reply to Thread
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Message
<blockquote data-quote="tRidiot" data-source="post: 3348189" data-attributes="member: 9374"><p>Well, to qualify for an actual telemedicine visit, you are supposed to have a video link, I believe. They have relaxed some of the rules and they may be allowing some phone visits, but technically, there has been a code to use for billing for phone consultations for years - this is different. That was based on time spent and honestly was reimbursed so poorly that most docs don't even waste their time on it. It takes more time to document the phone consult than it is worth. As for these telemedicine visits, they are more like actual office visits in terms of how much they reimburse, as you use the same codes - for the most part they are 'lower level' visits, but still worth a helluva lot more than the phone time alotted pays. </p><p></p><p>Bottom line, if you are trying to run an office and were on the phone 5-10 minutes and talked to 60 patients a day, you would probably still go bankrupt.</p><p></p><p>As for telemed - I've heard some folks are using phone consults now and billing it just like a regular visit/telemed visit - I'm not sure the legalities of this, but Medicare has come down and said they're not going to be auditing this stuff for the next 60 days, so they will get away with it for now.</p><p></p><p>For those wishing we had been able to do telemedicine before now, and wondering why your doctor didn't, it wasn't permitted per Medicare guidelines except in very specific circumstances up till now - some mental health stuff, some specialists and areas where there were extreme shortages of medical personal/rural access problems, etc. And with good reason - these telemed visits are NOT as good or thorough as a regular visit in the doctor's office. I can't listen to your lungs, I can't see you as well as in person, things aren't as tangible - a peson's appearance, manner, grooming, interactions, gait and mobility, etc. In spite of stories I've heard of some of these dial-a-doc guys asking patients to actually <strong>HOLD THEIR PHONE UP TO THEIR CHEST TO LISTEN TO THEIR LUNGS</strong> (no, that is NOT a joke), you just can't do an appropriately targeted accurate physical exam. It's a stopgap measure to help docs help their patients and still allow them to try to make some semblance of a living.</p><p></p><p>But it isn't working, not for me, at least. I mean, it's interesting, it's been helpful to a few patients, but personally, my billing is going to be down probably close to 90%. I show up at the office every day.</p><p></p><p>I'm debating about just staying home tomorrow, not sure I should bother getting out of bed,</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="tRidiot, post: 3348189, member: 9374"] Well, to qualify for an actual telemedicine visit, you are supposed to have a video link, I believe. They have relaxed some of the rules and they may be allowing some phone visits, but technically, there has been a code to use for billing for phone consultations for years - this is different. That was based on time spent and honestly was reimbursed so poorly that most docs don't even waste their time on it. It takes more time to document the phone consult than it is worth. As for these telemedicine visits, they are more like actual office visits in terms of how much they reimburse, as you use the same codes - for the most part they are 'lower level' visits, but still worth a helluva lot more than the phone time alotted pays. Bottom line, if you are trying to run an office and were on the phone 5-10 minutes and talked to 60 patients a day, you would probably still go bankrupt. As for telemed - I've heard some folks are using phone consults now and billing it just like a regular visit/telemed visit - I'm not sure the legalities of this, but Medicare has come down and said they're not going to be auditing this stuff for the next 60 days, so they will get away with it for now. For those wishing we had been able to do telemedicine before now, and wondering why your doctor didn't, it wasn't permitted per Medicare guidelines except in very specific circumstances up till now - some mental health stuff, some specialists and areas where there were extreme shortages of medical personal/rural access problems, etc. And with good reason - these telemed visits are NOT as good or thorough as a regular visit in the doctor's office. I can't listen to your lungs, I can't see you as well as in person, things aren't as tangible - a peson's appearance, manner, grooming, interactions, gait and mobility, etc. In spite of stories I've heard of some of these dial-a-doc guys asking patients to actually [B]HOLD THEIR PHONE UP TO THEIR CHEST TO LISTEN TO THEIR LUNGS[/B] (no, that is NOT a joke), you just can't do an appropriately targeted accurate physical exam. It's a stopgap measure to help docs help their patients and still allow them to try to make some semblance of a living. But it isn't working, not for me, at least. I mean, it's interesting, it's been helpful to a few patients, but personally, my billing is going to be down probably close to 90%. I show up at the office every day. I'm debating about just staying home tomorrow, not sure I should bother getting out of bed, [/QUOTE]
Insert Quotes…
Verification
Post Reply
Forums
The Water Cooler
General Discussion
Some Doctors are cancelling appointments
Search titles only
By:
Top
Bottom