An overview of the reimbursement policy by public and private payers before and after the COVID-19 pandemic is presented in a recent publication in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (2020;1-7. doi:10.6004/jnccn.2020.7639)
Telemedicine was introduced into the care for patients with cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic to minimize exposure to vulnerable patients. Expanded coverage and reimbursement for telemedicine was implemented, but policies may not persist after the crisis ends.
This review also “describes implications in cancer care, and offers considerations for future reimbursement policy,” explained Sheetal Kircher, MD, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine (Chicago, IL) and colleagues.
Prior to the pandemic, Medicare restricted telehealth use to rural and narrow geographic areas, and it required the delivery of services to be performed at an eligible facility. During the pandemic, Medicare expanded the list of eligible services, providers, geographic locations, and mode of telemedicine.
For successful long-term implementation of telemedicine, evidence of its success must be gathered so new models do not sacrifice quality or cause harm to patients. In addition, evaluations of access to technology and infrastructure for telemedicine should be completed and reimbursements should reflect these needs.
“We should learn from this natural experiment and implement necessary infrastructure to build technology capacity, maintain HIPAA compliance across different platforms, and address reimbursement challenges, including protections against medical billing abuse,” concluded Dr Kircher and colleagues.—Lisa Kuhns
