Medicare to Streamline Telemed Rules

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on May 26 will publish a proposed rule to streamline credentialing processes for physicians and other practitioners providing telemedicine services.

The rule will revise Medicare conditions of participation, which also pertain to the Medicaid program, for hospitals and critical access hospitals.

"We recognize the advantages and benefits that telemedicine provides for patients and are interested in reducing the burden and the duplicative efforts of the traditional credentialing and privileging process for Medicare-participating hospitals, both those which provide telemedicine services and those which use such services," CMS states in the proposed rule. "Therefore, we are proposing to revise both the hospital and CAH credentialing and privileging requirements to eliminate these regulatory impediments and allow for the advancement of telemedicine nationwide while still protecting the health and safety of patients."

The proposed rule now is available in a non-final format at the Federal Register's Public Inspection Desk at federalregister.gov, and will be officially published on May 26.

--Joseph Goedert