Most health execs say payers should be forced to pay for telemedicine

Traditionally, telemedicine has been used in a provider-to-provider setting with very limited reimbursement options because of the fee-for-service model, says Randy Parker, chief business development officer for MDLIVE.

"However, as the healthcare system transitions to the value-based care payment structure, telemedicine will become an affordable option for health systems and plans to meet or exceed incentive payment scoring outcomes, therefore allowing reimbursement to expand rapidly, according to experts," Parker says.

Managed Healthcare Executive’s 2017 Technology Survey found that over half of the more than 120 respondents (62.2%) believe that the federal government should mandate that payers pay for telemedicine services. The full survey findings will be released in February.

Parker

“Telemedicine is the cure to much of our healthcare challenges-it offers access to care regardless of geographical location or urban/rural setting; it offers an affordable care option in the midst of consumers being more heavily burdened with healthcare costs that consistently eat away at disposable income; and it offers quality of care that is consistent with care received in in-person settings,” says Parker.

Ronneberg

Managed Healthcare Executive editorial advisor Kevin Ronneberg, MD, vice president and associate medical director of Health Initiatives at HealthPartners, shares a similar viewpoint that telemedicine services are important to improving healthcare costs and trends. 

“Many services do not require the time and expense of an in-person visit to a clinic, urgent care or ER. Our 24/7 online clinic, virtuwell.com, is a great case in point. Just past its sixth anniversary, virtuwell is approaching combined savings of $25 million for health plans, employers and consumers,” Ronneberg says. “Telemedicine services also contribute to workplace productivity, given the convenience and time gained over in-person visits.”

Widespread reimbursement for telemedicine is a necessity because it ultimately increases adoption of telemedicine, which results in improved access, improved quality, lower costs, and increased scores on quality of care metrics, according to Parker.

“Many providers have already recognized this and are aggressively adopting telemedicine into their care delivery model,” he says. “Ideally, all public and commercial payers would see the value of telemedicine in reducing costs and improving patient health and reimburse telemedicine for medical and behavioral care across all geographies.”

Internal server error