Report: Medicare Reimbursed Nearly $14M for Telemedicine Last Year
In 2014, Medicare telemedicine reimbursement totaled $13.9 million, a number that has steadily increased since 2008, according to the Robert J. Waters Center for Telehealth and eHealth Law (CTeL).
CTeL says it obtained information from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which revealed that the $13.9 million figure reflects payments of $12,482,270 for provider fees at the distant site (the location of the telemedicine provider) and $1,452,160 for originating site fees (the location of the patient).
Since 2001, CMS’s Medicare reimbursement for distant site services totals $51 million and $6.5 million for originating site fees, for a total of $57.6 million over fourteen years, according to CTeL. In 2001, the Congressional Budget Office estimated it would cost CMS $150 million during the first five year to reimburse for telehealth encounters.
Recently, the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) analyzed how all 50 states grade out on telemedicine policy, finding a supportive landscape for physician practice standards and licensure in slightly less than half of them.
About the Author
Rajiv Leventhal
Managing Editor
Rajiv Leventhal is Managing Editor of Healthcare Innovation, covering healthcare IT leadership and strategy. Since 2012, he has been covering health IT developments for the publication's CIO and CMIO-based audience, and has taken keen interest in areas such as policy and payment, patient engagement, health information exchange, mobile health, healthcare data security, and telemedicine.
He can be followed on Twitter @RajivLeventhal