Medicare telehealth: actions needed to strengthen oversight and help providers educate patients on privacy and security risks : report to congressional addressees
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Contributor(s):
- United States. Government Accountability Office, issuing body.
- Publication:
- Washington, DC : United States Government Accountability Office, September 2022
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Facilities and Services Utilization Fraud -- prevention & control Government Regulation Legislation, Medical Privacy -- legislation & jurisprudence Telemedicine -- legislation & jurisprudence United States Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (U.S.)
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- Why GAO did this study. By law, Medicare pays for telehealth services under limited circumstances— such as only in certain (mostly rural) geographic locations. The waivers and other flexibilities that HHS issued in March 2020 (including under its own regulatory authority) have allowed services to be safely delivered and received during the pandemic. There is stakeholder interest in making these changes permanent. GAO and others have noted that extending them may increase spending and pose new risks of fraud, waste, and abuse. GAO was asked to review telehealth services under the waivers. This report describes, among other issues, (1) the utilization of telehealth services, (2) CMS efforts to identify and monitor risks posed by Medicare telehealth waivers, and (3) a change OCR made to its enforcement of regulations governing patients’ protected health information during the COVID-19 public health emergency. GAO analyzed Medicare claims data from 2019 through 2020 (the most recently available data at the time); reviewed federal statutes, CMS documents (including its assessment of risks posed by telehealth waivers), and OCR guidance; and interviewed agency officials. What GAO recommends. GAO is making three recommendations for CMS to strengthen its telehealth oversight, and one for OCR to provide additional direction to providers to explain privacy and security risks to patients. HHS neither agreed nor disagreed with the three CMS recommendations and concurred with the OCR recommendation.
- Copyright:
- The National Library of Medicine believes this item to be in the public domain. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (iii, 69 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918504888006676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918504888006676