As the nation tries to practice social distancing to reduce the spread of coronavirus, workers’ comp is embracing telehealth to keep injured workers from unnecessarily going out and increasing their likelihood of exposure.
Many states have relaxed requirements for coverage of telehealth services to help increase access to needed medical care, including:
- Arizona
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Florida
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Montana
- New Mexico
- New York
- Ohio
- Texas
- Washington
More states may likely follow suit soon, especially as the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently expanded access to telemedicine as well. Additionally, several state Medical Boards and Insurance Departments have suspended penalties or relaxed timelines for license renewals in order to permit impacted entities to prioritize services to consumers.
At this time, certain physical medicine vendors are expanding their telehealth service. MedRisk announced that they have broadened the scope of their telerehab services, while also broadening the scope of patients who qualify for telerehab.
