Telehealth Reimbursement Allows Access to Mental Health Care During COVID-19

Older adults belong to the cohort most at risk for serious illness reactions to COVID-19, for whom shelter in place is most strongly recommended [1]. In order to make remote services more accessible, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced non-enforcement of some telehealth policies, e.g., those limiting the patient's location to approved rural facilities, or requiring HIPAA compliance of audio-visual platforms used for telehealth [2]. While these measures increased access to care to Medicare subscribers with IT fluency, they failed to address access to care for Medicare subscribers who lack IT fluency.
Source: The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry - Category: Geriatrics Authors: Tags: Letter to the Editor Source Type: research