Health Care Professionals Report Disparities In Private Payer Reimbursement Policies For Telemedicine Vs. In-Office Visits

A survey of health care professionals found that in 2012, about 80% received private insurance reimbursement for telemedicine services, but about a quarter reported disparities in how payers treated claims for telemedicine services compared to claims for in-office services. About 38% reported that payers required different billing codes for telemedicine services as opposed to in-office services; about 35% reported that denials were more common for telemedicine services than for in-office services, and about 20% reported that pre-authorization was needed for telemedicine services, but not for in-office services.

These findings were reported in “Private Payer Telehealth . . .