Coding and Reimbursement: Telehealth

By Shreemanti Chakrabarty, Anna Marie Jilla, and Erin L Miller

In the era of COVID-19, it has become increasingly important to use different methods of clinical service provision to protect our patients’ health while still addressing their hearing, tinnitus, and vestibular health-care needs.

As audiology clinics increase their use of telehealth as a method for patient care, audiologists must understand how such changes also impact coding and billing. This article will discuss considerations and provide examples of billing and coding for telehealth services for audiologists.

Insurance coverage for telehealth services varies based on payer. It is unlikely that payers will cover a service delivered via telehealth if it was not already recognized as a covered service. In other words, non-covered services will remain non-covered if provided via telehealth. For specific or atypical situations, it is recommended that professionals contact the payer directly to obtain guidance on coding and billing for services provided via telehealth.

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