The telemedicine company Doctor on Demand announced that it will expand services to Medicare Part B beneficiaries—making the company the first big telemedicine provider to cater to the approximately 33 million seniors in the program
Historically, the use and reimbursement of telehealth services in Medicare Part B has been restricted to certain geographic and care delivery locations. That changed in mid-March. As the spread of COVID-19 forced shelter in place orders around the country and drastically limited physical locations for people to get healthcare services, the federal government, lifting longstanding restrictions and reimbursing telemedicine services at the same rates as in-person visits.
The company started as a virtual urgent care provider and has steadily grown the business of the past few years, entering into contracts with large employers and health insurers to offer services to their employees. Doctor on Demand employs more than 700 doctors and has expanded its clinical offerings to include primary care and behavioral health.
. “I think it’s fair to say that the advent of telehealth has been just completely accelerated, that it’s taken this crisis to push us to a new frontier, but there’s absolutely no going back.”Ferguson says he’s optimistic the telemedicine changes for Medicare Part B will continue into the future. “There's no guarantee because nobody has a crystal ball. But I think it's the sensible thing to do when you've got a large part of your population that is vulnerable,” Ferguson says.
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