CMS to Expand List of Telemedicine Services

Sept. 19, 2012 - PRLog -- On July 6, 2012 the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced its proposed Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) for 2013. Proposed changes for the 2013 calendar years (CY) include coverage for additional telemedicine services.

Developed based on public requests, the CY 2013 MPFS proposes extending Medicare coverage to many new preventative telemedicine services. Proposed services for which to offer coverage if administered through telehealth methods include:

* Alcohol and/or substance abuse (other than tobacco) structured assessment, brief intervention (15 to 30 minutes) and other intervention (greater than 30 minutes)

* Annual alcohol misuse screening (15 minutes)

* Brief face-to-face behavioral counseling for alcohol misuse (15 minutes)

* Annual screening for depression (15 minutes)

* High-intensity behavioral counseling to prevent sexually transmitted infections; face-to-face, individual counseling including education, skills training and guidance on ways to change sexual behavior (30 minutes, semi-annually)

* Annual individual, face-to-face intensive behavioral therapy for cardiovascular disease (15 minutes)

* Face-to-face intensive behavioral therapy for obesity (15 minutes)

GlobalMed supports Medicare coverage for beneficial telemedicine services. For more than a decade GlobalMed has provided cutting-edge telemedicine solutions. For information about GlobalMed’s range of telemedicine products, visit http://www.globalmed.com/.