The State of Telehealth in Maryland

Maryland is now facing the next big trend in healthcare: video visits. Also known as telemedicine, video visits are transforming the way patients and providers communicate, expanding access beyond the confines of the normal office. Some are calling video visits the rebirth of “the house call”. These personalized sessions add a flexibility to appointments that may have been missed otherwise.

As this form of telemedicine becomes more commonplace, it is important that providers understand how to utilize this new technology to the profit of their business. The following brief provides an overview of telemedicine adoption in the state of Maryland.

TeleWhat?

When looking into telemedicine you will find a diverse mix of solutions and offerings on the market. Current product offerings range from expensive machinery used for remote monitoring to video software that is used for basic consultation. Amongst the most popular of trends now are mobile applications which give users direct access to a provider network over video for a fixed, low cost fee. By defining the needs of your practice that you hope to address through telemedicine, you can more easily find the solution that is right for you.

Do Patients Want This?

Patient demand for telemedicine services are on the rise. Patients enjoy the added convenience telemedicine adds to their lives, while providers are enjoying the increase in patient satisfaction and reduction in missed visits and visit times. Providers across the state are already beginning to embrace and see the impact telemedicine can have on managing the health of their patients. Telemedicine is an added option for patients to improve access and reduce the hassle of seeing a doctor in office.

How Do I Bill This?

When it comes to the reimbursement and funding of telemedicine initiatives, Maryland is amongst the top states to lead the charge forward. Maryland is considered a parity state, meaning that when billing to private insurance a visit conducted over telemedicine is considered equivalent to its in office counter part.  As long as providers are able to accomplish everything they would otherwise be doing in an office visit over video it is billed exactly the same way to private insurance. Some insurers have even gone the length of creating a designated CPT code for billing telemedicine consults which may also be used. Local Maryland insurer CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield has gone to great lengths to encourage providers to utilize telemedicine for their members.

Learn how telemedicine is impacting Maryland and stay up-to-date on the latest telemedicine legislation in Maryland by visiting the Mid-Atlantic Telehealth Resource Center at matrc.org or the American Telemedicine Association at americantelemed.org.

For information on the SimpleVisit Telemedicine Service for Providers visit www.simplevisit.com.

About SimpleVisit

SimpleVisit is a video service which allows patients and providers to connect over the video platform of their choice. With SimpleVisit providers are able to deliver on-demand visits to patients over any device or platform they have available to them. For more information on SimpleVisit and on how we are enabling providers to host virtual visits check out www.SimpleVisit.com