Chronic pain and inactivity can lead to frustration and difficulty completing daily tasks. Fact is: it CAN hurt to wait.
On April 30, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a historic expansion of telehealth services so that doctors and other providers can deliver a wider range of care to Medicare beneficiaries in their homes. Beneficiaries thus don’t have to travel to a healthcare facility and risk exposure to COVID-19.
What does all of this mean for you?
For the duration of the COVID-19 emergency, CMS is waiving limitations on the types
of clinical practitioners that can furnish Medicare telehealth services. Prior to this change, only doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and certain others could deliver telehealth services. Now, other practitioners are able to provide telehealth services, including physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech language pathologists.
Checklist on how Medicare patients can benefit from these services:
Our ability to provide telehealth-based physical therapy care to vulnerable medicare patients applauded industry-wide.
Make no mistake about it. The fight for the rights of our Medicare patients has been front and center for some time now, even long before the novel coronavirus impacted our Nation. However, the decision to extend care now, from our experts to Medicare beneficiaries, could not have come at a more critical time for all of us.
Today, we join our colleagues and friends over at the Alliance for Physical Therapy Quality and Innovation (APTQI) in applauding the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for taking action to extend reimbursement eligibility for physical therapy appointments delivered through telehealth. The move comes after tireless advocacy efforts spearheaded by bipartisan lawmaker champions in Congress and physical therapy providers across the nation.
Keep reading to learn more about how your rights to access quality healthcare in the clinic or in your home are supported and protected by licensed therapists everywhere.
Receiving quality care from home with telehealth is not only possible … it comes with a high probability for success!
Research demonstrates that patients feel the same authentic, personalized connection through virtual visits as they do in a clinic setting. Experience has also taught our clinicians that the virtual environment helps motivate and engage our patients to produce the same or better outcomes in the comfort of your own home. And the best part about it is … you don’t need to feel tech-saavy in order to participate in virtual therapy sessions. Your CORA therapist is trained to help you get setup on a video platform that works for you prior to your first appointment.
And rest assured, you’re not alone in your reservations. You can download a list of frequently asked questions about telehealth that we get from patients of all ages and abilities every single day. We’ve prepared instructions available for download and explainer videos just for you.
Take a minute to watch this quick video that takes viewers through the process (from start to finish) to explain how you can still receive quality care in the comfort of your home.
Nothing is more important to us than your health. At CORA, we care.
At CORA, we value the human connections we can make and the experiences we deliver. We operate with compassion and purposefully seek ways to exceed our patients’ expectations. Our commitment is real and genuine. We focus on the people we serve and remain deeply invested in developing the people we employ. Our goal is to meet you in your comfort zone whether that means in the clinic or virtually during this time.
And direct access makes it easier than ever—no referral required! Remove barriers. Save money. Improve outcomes. Make the call to a CORA Physical Therapy clinic nearest you today and experience the difference tomorrow.
