Page 11 - Telecom Reseller August-September 2016

August/September 2016
DIBATTISTA
Legislation is currently transforming how licensing is conducted on a state-by-state level, but as of now, providers cannot practice across state lines where they are not licensed. You can nd more information pertaining to your state by visiting: http://www.americantelemed.org/policy/ state-policy-resource- center#.V4Ujt5ODGko
PRESCRIBING MEDICATION
When prescribing medication to patients over
a video visit there must be “a legitimate medical purpose in the usual course of professional practice to prescribe,” meaning the doctor must have conducted at least one medical evaluation prior to the prescription. A lot of controversy now surrounds what quali es as a medical evaluation. Some states do not allow the rst interaction where this evaluation would occur to be a virtual one, while others have embraced telemedicine. To be safe, providers that are implementing a video visit solution should
only prescribe to patients they already have an existing relationship with. Powerful narcotics have been a major point of contention when it comes to telemedicine and it is recommended that they should only be prescribed under physician supervision. Discretion should be shown when attempting to prescribe these types of pharmaceuticals over telemedicine.
BILLING
Billing is a shi ing landscape when it comes to telemedicine. Over half of the states now enforce
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To this end, businesses continue to explore ways to offer self-service scheduling, providing an easy means of rescheduling appointments and actively seeking feedback on the service experience.
For me personally, waiting for a service or delivery person to arrive within a
set window of time, far outstrips the annoyance I feel listening to hold music. The Forrester report forecasts this year companies will explore ways to offer self-service scheduling and better inform and prepare their employees to provide effective field service.
For businesses who would like to improve their customers’ field service experiences while differentiating themselves on this aspect of customer service in the near future, we recommend a few suggestions. For a customer to have a good field
service experience, the businesses should successfully engage with the customer before arriving and it is important to use multiple channels of communication to raise your engagement rates.
Help make your customer’s ability to reschedule or communicate with you is fast and easy that can be accomplished from every message they receive, on every channel, with a simple click, tap or spoken request.
With all the knowledge gained through the field data, businesses must leverage it to predict needs of its customers delivering faster, easier and a more personal experience.
In the age of fierce competitiveness, companies that deliver a great end-to- end experience that makes them stand out from the clutter will attract and retain customers.
This is a universal truth no matter which industry a business is in and businesses who choose to make superior customer experience its core business strategy will continue to thrive. ■
parity law, which requires private insurers to reimburse video visits just as they would in- person visits.
However, it does not require them to pay at the same rate. For example, Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield reimburses video visits at half of the rate as an in-person visit. As long as the visit
is done over a synchronous audio and video channel, providers typically use the same CPT code for billing as they would with an in-person visit. Some insurers may require modi ers to the code to identify it as a telemedicine visit, but they cannot by law decline a claim on the premise of it being done via telemedicine. Every region has a telehealth resource center, which is a great tool for providers looking to get speci c questions answered related to Medicaid.
It’s also good for providers who are curious about their state regulations for billing and
utilizing telemedicine in a reimbursable manor. e center closest to you can be found at http:// www.telehealthresourcecenter.org/. As it relates to Medicare, the biggest restriction for providers looking to go direct to patient’s homes is that the patient must be receiving care in an underserved rural community to qualify for reimbursement.
PATIENT CONSENT
It is important for patients to understand their telemedicine visits are a supplement to treatment and can be used as a means to improve access to care that may be limited by location or provider time.
When conducting or o ering video visits to patients, providers should acknowledge it as a replacement as coming in for a physical visit and explain that will be billed to their insurance as if they had come into the o ce to avoid confusion.
Telecom Reseller 11 continued from page 3
ELIGIBLE TECHNOLOGIES
e Omnibus Rule of 2013 went a long way
in de ning what exactly quali es as a business associate and HIPAA compliant when it
comes to telemedicine. Under this provision, a telecommunications conduit is any so ware that uses end-to-encryption, does not store sessions on their servers, and lacks the ability decrypt live sessions. is means, contrary to popular belief, programs such as Skype, FaceTime, and Google Hangouts may all be used for patient communications without those companies signing a Business Associates Agreement (BAA), similar to how Verizon can facilitate phone
calls to patients without becoming a business associate.
By understanding these guidelines, providers are taking the rst steps to be prepared to o er HIPAA compliant video visits. ■
a timeframe rather than listening to that annoying hold music that some businesses insist on playing as you wait.
INTRODUCING THE YVC-300 CONFERENCE PHONE
Designed using Yamaha’s well-known sound processing technologies, the YVC-300 ensures users won’t nd themselves hovering around the phone struggling to hear. As a portable USB conference phone for use in huddle spaces and small conference rooms its features include:
• USB, Bluetooth and audio in/out connection interfaces
• Bridging connections over multiple interfaces into a single call • Support for automatic pairing of NFC-enabled devices
New to the Revolabs conference phone family, the YVC-300 is
the perfect choice for organizations that want to provide quality group communications solutions without the cost of dedicated equipment for every conference room or open collaboration space.
Learn more about the Yamaha YVC-300 at revolabs.com/YVC-300