Medscape (2/12, James, Subscription Publication) reported that one of the reasons the APA is pushing for changes in reimbursement to telemedicine appointments to be made permanent is that some psychiatrists, such as Dr. Manuel Pacheco at Tufts Medical Center, say they have seen benefits from telepsychiatry visits. Dr. Pacheco, who is “on an APA committee that’s endorsed that shift in reimbursement to be permanent,” said, “I can hear their cat or their dog. Even on telephone visits, you can kind of hear how the patient lives…. So it really helps you to have increased access to your patient.” Medscape added, “The APA is also calling for research to gain an understanding of the pandemic’s full impact and to document and measure all the ways it is changing barriers and driving innovation in what it describes as the landscape of healthcare delivery.”
Related Links:
— Medscape (requires login and subscription)