Alliance Comments on the COVID-19 Interim Final Rule

On April 14, the Alliance for Connected Care wrote the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in response to the COVID-19 Interim Final Rule. The Alliance emphasized the importance of the many changes that were made, and requested several next steps for CMS, leveraging new authorities that is has received under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. Alliance priorities included:

Expanded flexibility for audio-only telehealth to a broader set of services
Technical fixes to ensure telehealth can be delivered by more clinicians, including changes to distant site provider rules.
Additional flexibility for E-Visits and Virtual Check-ins
Ensure robust data collection during this time period so that the nation may learn from its experience with telehealth and remote patient monitoring
Expand efforts to educate Medicare beneficiaries about utilizing telehealth.