Making the Switch to full time telehealth?

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Making the switch to full time telehealth?

 

Since the pandemic began, many of us were forced to abruptly close down our physical office and offer telehealth services. Friday I went into my office, business as usual, and Monday I had to contact all my patients and tell them we would be using telehealth. Just like that, no more seeing patients in the office. 

 

I think a lot of us were taken by surprise (dazed and confused) and left scrambling as to how to make all of this stuff work. My state, Illinois, went on “lock down” in mid March. Schools, restaurants, hair salons, and countless other businesses suddenly found themselves at home. We did not reopen the office doors until June 1st. 

 

As the shock wore off, it seems that many therapists were able to adjust quite nicely to providing telehealth services. In fact, some therapists adjusted so well that they now want to offer telehealth services permanently and closed down their physical office space. I certainly understand the appeal of no commute, no worries about bad weather, and no real late cancelations.  And of course, no office rent and utilities to pay.

 

The question I have seen the most is, how do I make this transition permanent? 

 

Is telehealth going to be supported, and paid for, by insurance?

 

The short answer to this question is yes.

 

Many insurance companies were using telehealth prior to the pandemic and these services were dramatically expanded by the pandemic. After the pandemic, all traditional methods of healthcare delivery were seen through the lens of can this service be provided from the safety of the patients own home? 

 

For behavioral health, the answer is a definite yes. Many of the types of therapy and populations benefit from telehealth services, as much as in person services. 

 

For those who take insurance and are wondering how to make this transition permanent are asking what do I put down for my office address location? We don’t want to list our home address as the office address. We don’t really want patients stopping by the house for their appointments.

 

If you want to close your physical office down and move to offering telehealth only services from home, it’s not as hard as you think. 

 

On the provider profile for each insurance company, you would put “telehealth only provider” for your street address. This is what is published in the provider directory. You can still keep your city and state as your primary office location. Patients will be able to locate you and see that you are a telehealth only provider.

 

However, you also need to include an address for the insurance company to send you information, like EOB’s, contract updates, etc. This is called your remittance address and you can use your home address or a PO Box. This address is not made available to patients. 

 

If you are interested in making this switch permanent, I would suggest contacting your provider representative for each insurance panel and letting them know. In most cases, they will update this information for you. 

 

It can be as easy as that. I always keep in mind that working together with insurance makes things so much easier. 

 

As a Psychologist with a thriving business, I believe that owning an insurance based private practice is the key to financial freedom, professional freedom, and personal freedom. If you liked this information, join my free facebook group Wealthy Therapists Take Insurance for more tips and strategies. If you have questions or need help creating your own practice, contact me at Robin@DrRobinMyers.com. I offer Coaching and Consulting Services.

 

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