The COVID-19 pandemic triggered many changes in healthcare, and not all were bad. In the years since the coronavirus forced worldwide lockdowns and limited access to care, the healthcare industry increasingly has embraced measures such as remote care and telehealth.
One surprising area that has benefitted from those changes is hospice care. Sean Oser, MD, MPH, a primary care physician and medical director in Colorado, shared his experience in providing hospice care via telehealth. Oser, who also works as an associate professor of primary care at the University of Colorado, said he didn’t anticipate how much telehealth services could enhance hospice care.
Hospice care by telehealth provides an obvious convenience for patients, but Oser shared his surprise at how much the increased frequency and ease of visits — plus better insight into the patient’s home environment —could improve his own experience as the provider.
Changes made in the post-pandemic era to hospice and other healthcare reimbursements for telehealth services paved the way for providers like Oser. Initially added as a measure to improve access to care during the pandemic, Medicare’s expanded coverage of telehealth services has been extended several times. The latest extension of rules to allow hospice provided via telehealth to be paid through Medicare will end in December.
In May, a House Ways Means health subcommittee approved a bill that would extend pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities by two years. The subcommittee’s bipartisan group of lawmakers voted 41 to 0 in favor of the “Preserving Telehealth, Hospital and Ambulance Act.” Representatives called out the need to extend the hospital-at-home waiver, which is set to expire at the end of 2024.
The McKnight’s Tech Daily is an e-newsletter for the audiences of McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Home Care.
