American Telemedicine Association Reimbursement Survey Results

[Christopher Peterson]

Hello all

Great call Wednesday night. The new open mic format is super!

Thank you Steve, Beth and Bob for your great leadership around these calls.

I wanted to take a moment to share some results from our recent 2015 American Telemedicine Association (ATA) Telerehab SIG survey. Tammy Richmond ( SIG co- chair) and myself developed this peer reviewed survey. The preliminary results are very small, so we have reopened the survey. The bottom line is
WE NEED MORE DATA, PLEASE HELP.

As you can see the representation of PT here is quite small. If you or anyone you know is working with a telehealth related project please share the survey link with them. It is ok if they are not reimbursed for the service. For those of you proficient in social media technologies such as twitter, feel free to spread the word that way.

Survey Link:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CNHB5BK

Here are the PT related results from the first 6 months of the survey:

Out of 42 respondents only 20 reported delivering TH services across all disciplines OT, ST, audiology and Physical Medicine.

The survey had 7 physical therapy respondents.

3/7 Respondents reported delivering PT service. However, at least one respondent owns a large rehab company based in several states. These responses likely represent more than one therapist delivering service via TR.

Out of 3 respondents providing the service, 1 PT works for a private non-profit, 1 PT for a for-profit organization and one PT is self employed.

No PTs reported getting reimbursed. 

Only 1/3 PTs reported delivering a specific service. This service was treatment/intervention.

The options were: Asssessment/evaluation, treatment/intervention, Remote Monitoring, Professional consultation (i.e. client/patient not present), Education (student learning), Supervision, other.

Only one PT reported providing PT in a specific setting, SNF

Options were: School based, community clinics, health centers, SNFs, Home Health, Hospital, Private Practice, Retirement Communities, Outpatient Clinics, Assisted Living Centers, Private Industries, Military/VA/Vet Centers.

One PT respondent reported Billing and coding for TH.

No PTs reported using billing modifiers

No PTs reported billing/coding for any technology based service such as remote home monitors.

A number of states have telehealth activity. The survey did not distinguish which services were being provided specifically so the answers here are general to all rehabilitation professionals. CA (6), AZ (5), MA(5), OH(5), GA(4),MA(4), NJ(4), PA(4), SC(4)

15 respondents reported using the following types of technology (this is reflective of all respondents includes SLP, PT, OT, Audiology and PM.

Computers(80%), Tablet (33%), Telephone (20%), Mobile phone (20%)