Major physician groups have said the decision by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to pay physicians for patient visits that are conducted by telephone will help physician practices stay open by providing them with necessary revenue.

There have been a series of regulatory changes that were announced by CMS as a reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic including the decision to start paying for visits that take place by audio telephone only. Prior to this decision, CMS had agreed to pay for virtual visits only if physicians used both audio and video feeds via traditional telehealth.

Many physician practices who have been forced to cancel routine patient visits in order to keep patients at home and avoid direct exposure to the coronavirus got many phone calls from patients. They could give advice, but weren’t paid by CMS for these calls with Medicare and Medicaid patients. Losing revenue from regular patient visits to their offices, some doctors worried it would be a challenge to keep their doors open.

Robert McLean, M.D., ACP president said that the change to allow Medicare to begin paying for telephone visits is vital. It will benefit many Medicare patients having only a landline or audio-only phones. Its extremely important to continue treating those patients while keeping them home as much as possible while they are facing the threat of COVID-19.

CMS announced that it will enable Medicare to cover more than 80 telehealth services and allow providers to bill for telehealth visits at the same rate as in-person visits.

CMS said that in the midst of public health emergencies, individuals can use interactive apps with audio and video facilities to visit their clinicians for an even wider range of services. Providers can also evaluate beneficiaries who have only audio phones.

Clinicians can also provide remote patient monitoring services to patients suffering from acute and chronic conditions and for patients with only one disease.