Wiki Telehealth for Anesthesiologist

[Cordovab]

Anesthesiologist B (telehealth provider) provides consultative care remotely for the same patient as Anesthesiologist A. Anesthesiologist B is providing the interpretation of the TEE images and assisting Anesthesiologist A in patient management.

Can Anesthesiologist B provide such care to multiple patients simultaneously or must it be clear that care is not overlapping?

Thank you,

Brandy

 

[thomas7331]

Only certain services are payable as telehealth, and these require direct interactive audio and visual communication between the provider and patient. If the remote provider is just assisting another physician in patient management, that usually wouldn't qualify as a billable telehealth service - telehealth services are rendered directly to the patient as if the provider was present, the only difference being that the contact is through the equipment rather than in person. Anesthesia services aren't on this list, unless it's an evaluation and management service that is being provided. If that's the case, only one of the providers of that specialty would be eligible to bill an E/M on a given date of service.

Here's a link to the CMS publication - it includes a list of the services that will qualify, and the link at the end will take you to more detailed explanations of the specific requirements for the services.

https://www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Ed...NProducts/downloads/TelehealthSrvcsfctsht.pdf