Dear Colleagues,
We hope you're doing well and are enjoying our return to spring weather! We're here with another edition of Northeast Connections to help you prepare for a summer filled with telehealth opportunities and events!
May 2023 brought the official end of the COVID-19 PHE, and as such, the spring has been filled with telehealth updates to policies and or additional extensions to various PHE related considerations, along with a smattering of state progress and new funding opportunities ; Between Federal Policy Movement, Request for Comments on upcoming Federal efforts, and State level programmatic opportunities, there was lots of important considerations for telehealth afoot for all avenues of care. As you've come to expect, the NETRC team has what you need to catch up, and lots of telehealth updates to share with you this month! T his edition aims to help you digest the multitudes of things happening across the telehealth landscape; including: NETRC23 Conference Updates , NCTRC member Resources, Upcoming Webinars & Events for 2023, & so much more!
As always, please don't hesitate to reach out with your telehealth questions, success stories, or just to say hello; we hope to hear from you!
On behalf of the entire NETRC Team – Be Well,
Reid Plimpton, MPH - Project Manager
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Upcoming Webinars & Events |
Open Funding Opportunities |
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Conference Updates
NETRC's 9th Annual Conference: 9/18-9/19/2023
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The 9th Annual NETRC Conference will begin with registration and check in between 8 and 9am, Monday September 18th. We'll hit the ground running that morning with a mixture of plenary speakers and breakout sessions, and day 1 will end with our networking reception from roughly 5pm-630pm. Day 2 will feature much of what you come to expect from NETRC events, with another day full of plenaries and breakout sessions, and concluding with at least 2 optional "post conference workshops". Join us this fall for:
- Presentations from Regional and National Telehealth Leaders
- Over 15 Breakout Sessions featuring regional success stories, innovative efforts, lessons learned, and other topics to be identified
- Networking and Collaborative Connection opportunities
- Engaging Sponsor and Exhibitor Interaction possibilities
- & so much more!
Venue: This year's conference will be held at The Doubletree by Hilton, in Nashua, New Hampshire ($159 per night + taxes/fees), conveniently located just 20 minutes from the Manchester Airport (MHT). Offering free shuttle service including to and from Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, this hotel in Nashua, NH is located 10 minutes from the Historic District and features a full-service spa, heated indoor pool, and fitness center.
Early Bird Special Pricing
expires 6/19/2023
Full Registration $200*
September 18th only $150 (full day)
September 19th only $75 (half-day)
CME Post Conference Workshop $40
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The Call for Nominations for our 3rd Annual "Michael Edwards Memorial Award for Advancing Telehealth in the Northeast" has just One Week Left!
Go here to learn more and submit your nomination!
Nomination Submissions Form Closes on 7/28/2023
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Call For Breakout Presentation Abstracts EXTENDED!
The proposal deadline is now Friday, June 2nd, 2023 and submissions will be notified by Friday, June 16th.
Presentations will be selected to create an agenda covering a broad spectrum of topics for a diverse audience, with a focus on highlighting regional programs providing practical strategies and resources for successful and sustainable implementation. We'll also be looking for presentations which focus on the impact of telehealth from various perspectives, including patients, providers, health systems and more.
Please note: NETRC is not able to accept proposals from representatives of for-profit companies. We encourage you to share this opportunity with customers and end-users. Travel and accommodations are not provided.
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Sponsorship Opportunities Now Available!
We've created a variety of opportunities for you to network and gain exposure throughout the conference, including a unique exhibitor space layout. The Exhibitor space for Platinum, Diamond & Gold Sponsors will be in the Ballroom Foyer, or the Somerset Ballroom, Silver & Bronze Sponsors will be in the Somerset Ballroom or Trafalgar room. The agenda will include dedicated time on both days of the conference for attendees to visit with sponsors and exhibitors woven throughout the session blocks.
All sponsorships include an exhibit booth and 1-3 registrations for the full conference. To learn more, download our Sponsor & Exhibitor Prospectus. You don't want to miss this, reserve your sponsor space now!
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Many Thanks to the Sponsors who are already on the map to
#ChartTheCourseForward with us!
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Federal Public Health Emergency Considerations |
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The end of the PHE means multiple federal regulatory waivers and flexibilities will be terminated, impacting telehealth in a variety of ways. Although the CAA, 2023 extended most of the COVID telehealth flexibilities that were incorporated into law until 2024, CMS also made a variety of administrative policy changes that were not addressed in the new law. As a surprise to many providers, not all telehealth COVID flexibilities were aligned with the Decemeber 31, 2024 expiration date in the CAA, 2023. In fact, many expired immediately after the PHE ended on May 11th; the waivers and flexibilities specific to telehealth are highlighted in this PDF. Additional information can be found in: CTeL’s “Federal PHE Ending May 11, 2023 Telehealth Compliance Audit Checklist and this End of the PHE check list created by PYA, and below
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Center for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS) Updates
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HHS Office for Civil Rights Announces the Expiration of COVID-19 Public Health Emergency HIPAA Notifications of Enforcement Discretion
In Early April, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announces that the Notifications of Enforcement Discretion issued under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act during the COVID-19 public health emergency would expire at 11:59 pm on May 11, 2023, due to the expiration of the COVID-19 public health emergency.
“OCR exercised HIPAA enforcement discretion throughout the COVID-19 public health emergency to support the health care sector and the public in responding to this pandemic,” said Melanie Fontes Rainer, OCR Director. “OCR is continuing to support the use of telehealth after the public health emergency by providing a transition period for health care providers to make any changes to their operations that are needed to provide telehealth in a private and secure manner in compliance with the HIPAA Rules.”
In 2020 and 2021, OCR published four Notifications of Enforcement Discretion in the Federal Register regarding how the Privacy, Security, Breach Notification, and Enforcement Rules (“HIPAA Rules”) would be applied to certain violations during the COVID-19 nationwide public health emergency. These Notifications and the effective beginning and end dates are:
Emergency - PDF (“Telehealth Notification”), effective from March 17, 2020, to 11:59 pm May 11, 2023.
OCR is providing a 90-calendar day transition period for covered health care providers to come into compliance with the HIPAA Rules with respect to their provision of telehealth. The transition period will be in effect beginning on May 12, 2023 and will expire at 11:59 p.m. on August 9, 2023. OCR will continue to exercise its enforcement discretion and will not impose penalties on covered health care providers for noncompliance with the HIPAA Rules that occurs in connection with the good faith provision of telehealth during the 90-calendar day transition period. The Notice of Expiration of Certain Notifications of Enforcement Discretion Issued in Response to the COVID-19 Nationwide Public Health Emergency may be found at: https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2023-07824.pdf - PDF.
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Controlled Substance Prescribing via Telehealth; DEA Updates
The Drug Enforcement Administration filed the rule on Tuesday, May 9th to extend telehealth flexibilities, which will take effect on Thursday when the COVID-19 public health emergency expires.
Any existing provider-patient telehealth relationship established before Nov. 11, 2023 then can continue through November 2024.
A timeline for when the DEA expects to make a final decision on the future of the policy remains unclear, but a senior agency official said they’re working to have clear regulations in place for patients before the extension expires.”
Read the full text of the Rule here, and a write up about what this means in practice, here.
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Regional Updates & New Telehealth Resources |
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Earlier this week, the Center for Connected Health Policy (CCHP) is releasing its Summary of state telehealth policy changes for Spring. Additionally, we are also making available a summary chart showing where states stand on many key telehealth policies, as well as an infographic highlighting our key findings. The most current information in CCHP’s online policy finder tool may be exported for each state into a PDF document. Note that the review period for this report was January through March 2023. In some cases, after a state was reviewed by CCHP, it is possible that the state may have passed a significant piece of legislation or implemented an administrative policy change that CCHP may not have captured. In those instances, the changes will be reviewed and catalogued in the upcoming Fall 2023 edition of CCHP’s Summary Report. As in previous editions, information in the policy finder remains organized into three categories: Medicaid reimbursement, private payer laws and professional requirements.
Additionally, last year CCHP received funding from the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) to create an FQHC specific section on Medicaid fee-for-service policies, and we have since maintained that category within our policy finder. FQHCs have many unique rules that apply to them that sometimes affect their ability to utilize telehealth, such as the definition of a visit/encounter in the Medicaid program. The FQHC category takes these considerations into account and will help FQHCs to more easily navigate to the policies that impact them. COVID-19 is also included as a category in CCHP’s 50 State policy tool, however COVID policies are not included as part of the summary report’s findings. In instances where the state has made policies permanent, or extended policies for multiple years, CCHP has incorporated those policies into this report. Note that this will be CCHP’s final Spring edition of this report, as we will transition in 2024 to releasing one executive summary report in the Fall only, with three separate rounds of updates being made to each jurisdiction in the policy finder in the interim.
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The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) Presents: New Telehealth Resources for Health Centers
NACHC is excited to collaborate with National Health Center Telehealth Resource Center (TRC) to pilot a project intended to provide technical assistance (TA) to health centers who are determining how and if they will sustain telehealth operations and virtual modalities coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic and Public Health Emergency designation (PHE). Find out more about this joint project below.
TA products available:
3. Direct Telehealth Billing Technical Assistance/Triage –Targeted TA for FQHC telehealth billing questions now has a dedicated consultative service available triaged by the Center for Connected Health Policy, email: FQHCquestions@cchpca.org
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