ACS Questionnaire on Telehealth In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a series of rules and waivers temporarily lifting certain constraints on Medicare coverage for telehealth and other virtual services. The ACS Divison of Advocacy and Health Policy (DAHP) is seeking feedback on the impact of telehealth expansion on surgical practice and reimbursement as it works to develop post-COVID-19 payment policy positions. Question Title 1. Where is your primary office located? State/Province -- select state -- AL AlabamaAK AlaskaAS American SamoaAZ ArizonaAR ArkansasCA CaliforniaCO ColoradoCT ConnecticutDE DelawareDC District of ColumbiaFM Federated States of MicronesiaFL FloridaGA GeorgiaGU GuamHI HawaiiID IdahoIL IllinoisIN IndianaIA IowaKS KansasKY KentuckyLA LouisianaME MaineMH Marshall IslandsMD MarylandMA MassachusettsMI MichiganMN MinnesotaMS MississippiMO MissouriMT MontanaNE NebraskaNV NevadaNH New HampshireNJ New JerseyNM New MexicoNY New YorkNC North CarolinaND North DakotaMP Northern Mariana IslandsOH OhioOK OklahomaOR OregonPW PalauPA PennsylvaniaPR Puerto RicoRI Rhode IslandSC South CarolinaSD South DakotaTN TennesseeTX TexasUT UtahVT VermontVI Virgin IslandsVA VirginiaWA WashingtonWV West VirginiaWI WisconsinWY Wyoming ZIP/Postal Code Question Title 2. Which of the following best describes your office's specialty focus of care? Select all that apply. General surgery Bariatric surgery Cardiothoracic surgery Colorectal surgery Neurological surgery Obstetrics and gynecology Oral-maxillofacial surgery Orthopaedic surgery Otolaryngology Ophthalmology Pediatric surgery Plastic and reconstructive surgery Surgical oncology Urological surgery Vascular surgery Other (please specify) Question Title 3. Did you begin to provide, or increase your provision of, telehealth services following the March 17 waivers expanding telehealth coverage during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE)? Yes No Question Title 4. What type(s) of telehealth services are you providing? Select all that apply. Post-operative E/Ms Follow-up visits Acute care (new patients) Acute care (established patients) Other (please specify) Question Title 5. What platform are you using to provide the majority of your telehealth services? HIPAA-compliant platform (Evisits, WebPT, etc.) Free telehealth platform (Doxy.me, VSee, etc.) Internet/device platform (Zoom, Skype, Facetime, etc.) Other (please specify) Question Title 6. The following is a list of rules/waivers established by the Administration to expand telehealth coverage during the PHE. Please select which, if any, rules/waivers you believe should be made permanent and applied to telehealth services once the PHE is over. Select all that apply. Elimination of geographic and originating site requirements (see Changes to Medicare Telehealth Rules during the PHE chart for more information on this waiver) Coverage for both new and established patients Payment parity between telehealth (audio & video) E/Ms and face-to-face office/outpatient E/Ms Payment parity between telephone (audio only) E/Ms and face-to-face office/outpatient established patient E/Ms Coverage for inpatient telehealth services (e.g., consultations) Use of non-HIPAA-compliant technologies (e.g., FaceTime, Skype) Ability to treat patients across state lines Question Title 7. Do you foresee offering telehealth services to patients once the PHE is over? Yes - even if current telehealth coverage/reimbursement waivers are not made permanent Maybe - only if current telehealth coverage/reimbursement waivers are made permanent No - my practice will not use telehealth after the PHE ends Question Title 8. What advantages do you believe telehealth expansion has provided during the PHE? Select all that apply. Reduced exposure to the COVID-19 virus Increased access to care Patient convenience Physician convenience Other (please specify) Question Title 9. What telehealth policy changes do you want the ACS to advocate for? Is there any additional information that you think the ACS should consider when developing post-COVID-19 telehealth policy positions? Thank you for your participation. For questions or more information about the ACS' telehealth-related advocacy efforts, contact Lauren Foe, Senior Associate for Regulatory Affairs, at lfoe@facs.org. Done
