Vizient urges government to make expanded telehealth flexibilities permanent
Vizient, Inc. is urging Congress and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to make permanent many of the legislative and regulatory actions, particularly those related to telehealth, that have been put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In its letter to Congress, Vizient applauded the leadership and bold steps that have been taken to support the rapid expansion of telehealth. Vizient also praised the work of leaders at CMS on this critical initiative and similarly urged them to take action in their response to the interim final rule, “Medicare and Medicaid Programs, Basic Health Program, and Exchanges: Additional Policy and Regulatory Revisions in Response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency and Delay of Certain Reporting Requirements for the Skilled Nursing Facility Quality Reporting Program.”
“We have consistently heard from our hospital members about the need to make permanent many of the new flexibilities related to telehealth,” said Julie Cerese, group senior vice president, performance management and national networks for Vizient. “Health care providers have made significant investments to rapidly expand and deploy these new opportunities to increase access to care, all while enduring concurrent financial challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We strongly urge Congress and CMS to make permanent new flexibilities related to telehealth so that providers can more fully integrate these new health care delivery opportunities after the public health emergency expires.”
