This week a group of Republican and Democratic Senators introduced the CONNECT for Health Act (Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies). The bipartisan bill would expand telehealth services in Medicare, improve care outcomes, make it easier for patients to connect with their health care providers, and assist with cutting costs. Specifically, the legislation would:

  • Create a bridge program to help providers transition to the goals of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) and the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) through using telehealth and remote patient monitoring (RPM);
  • Allow telehealth and RPM to be used by qualifying participants in alternative payment models;
  • Permit the use of RPM for certain patients with chronic conditions;
  • Permit further telehealth and RPM in community health centers and rural health clinics;
  • Allow telehealth and RPM to be basic benefits in Medicare Advantage; and
  • Clarify that the provision of telehealth or RPM technologies made under Medicare by a health care provider for the purpose of furnishing these services shall not be considered “remuneration.”

The bill’s objectives are in alignment with the recent launch of AASM SleepTM, a new state-of-the-art telemedicine platform that will dramatically increase patient access to the expertise of board-certified sleep medicine physicians and accredited sleep centers. A core component of the system is a secure, web-based video platform that facilitates live, interactive consultations and follow-up visits between patients and sleep medicine providers. AASM SleepTM also features an interactive sleep diary, sleep log and sleep questionnaires, and the system syncs with Fitbit® sleep data, giving sleep physicians an unparalleled view of their patients’ sleep habits.