CMS Eases 'Burdensome' IT Rules

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency known as CMS, is streamlining the telemedicine physician-credentialing process to end "burdensome" regulatory requirements that might have hampered innovation in health-care delivery.

The revised rules also will make it easier for small, rural and critical-access hospitals (CAHs) to offer telemedicine services, according to the 83-page CMS rule-change to be published Thursday.

The change eases the credentialing rules hospitals must follow for physicians and practitioners who want to confer with their patients via telemedicine but don't work onsite or need hospital privileges. That would include specialists at large academic medical centers who confer with local physicians via a computer teleconference, for example, or who interpret MRI images remotely. Under the old rules, practitioners already credentialed by their own hospitals nonetheless had to go through a multistep credentialing process for the rural hospital.

"The removal of unnecessary barriers to the use of telemedicine may enable patients to receive medically necessary interventions in a more timely manner" and enhance chronic-disease management, according to the CMS document.

"These revisions will provide more flexibility to small hospitals and CAHs in rural areas and regions with a limited supply of primary care and specialized providers," the document continues. "In certain instances, telemedicine may be a cost-effective alternative to traditional service delivery approaches and, most importantly, may improve patient outcomes and satisfaction."

The rule change goes into effect in 60 days. CMS is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.