AHA issues recommendations on post-pandemic telehealth

The American Hospital Association (AHA) issued a letter directed to the White House, recommending a set of actions that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) should take to maintain access and availability of telehealth after the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the AHA urged the HHS and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) to permanently: (a) expand the list of Medicare telehealth services to include services that were added in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; (b) allow virtual check-ins and visits to be used for both new and established patients; (c) allow remote patient monitoring tools to be used for both new and established patients, and for acute and chronic conditions; (d) enable the use of real time and interactive audio and video technology for direct supervision.