Biden Announces End of COVID Public Health Emergency in May

The Biden administrationannounced this week that the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE), first issued in March 2020, will end on May 11.The PHEwaived a host of restrictions on the use of telehealth to help patients receive services, including mental health services, without leaving their homes. With the end of the emergency, those waivers will be lifted, and several pre-pandemic regulations will be back in effect. These include the following:With very few exceptions, health care professionals registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will be required to have had an in-person visit with a patient in order to prescribe controlled substances.Health care professionals will be required to have a DEA registration in any state in which they are prescribing controlled substances.Health care professionals will be required to use HIPAA-compliant messaging software for telehealth; under the PHE, physicians and other health care professionals may use popular technology, such as Skype and FaceTime, to conduct telehealth sessions.Importantly, some states and health care plans —recognizing that telehealth has now become a permanent feature of health care—may continue certain flexibilities and coverage; commercial and Medicaid payers may vary widely in their telehealth policies. APA members are urged to contact the APA Practice Management Helpline, their APA district b ranch, state medical board, or other trusted resource for information about the status of coverage f...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Biden administration controlled substances COVID DEA in-person visit pandemic public health emergency telehealth White House Source Type: research