Telehealth Billing for Nurse Practitioners During COVID-19: Policy Updates

J Nurse Pract. 2021 Mar;17(3):258-263. doi: 10.1016/j.nurpra.2020.11.015. Epub 2020 Nov 25.

Abstract

Telehealth is a growing valuable strategy to assist patients accessing needed care when unable to get to a health care setting for one of several reasons. During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic of 2020, many health care practices were forced to implement telehealth services to meet patient and practice needs. In 2020, several temporary waivers, exceptions, and telehealth policy changes emerged across the nation. Many telehealth policies are state or federal specific. This report provides a general overview of essential telehealth policies and legislative updates along with resources and websites to guide and support nurse practitioners with contemporary regulations regarding telehealth billing.

Keywords: COVID-19 and telehealth; nurse practitioners; telehealth billing; telehealth coding; telehealth policy; telehealth reimbursement.