The coronavirus has shined the spotlight on telehealth as a potentially effective way to provide healthcare on-site and prevent the spread of disease. To help facilitate greater use of this technology in skilled nursing facilities, Senate and House lawmakers on Wednesday introduced legislation that would lead to greater use of it.
U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-SD) and Ben Cardin (D-MD), and U.S. Reps. Adrian Smith (R-NE) and Ann Kuster (D-NH) are co-sponsoring companion versions of the Reducing Unnecessary Senior Hospitalizations (RUSH) Act of 2020.
The RUSH Act would allow Medicare to enter into voluntary, value-based arrangements with medical groups to provide acute care to residents in skilled nursing facilities using a combination of telehealth and on-site staff.
The main objective is to avoid costly resident transfers to the emergency department. Any savings generated would be shared between the medical group and the skilled nursing facility, according to a media release.
While skilled nursing facilities with a star rating of less than 3 are eligible to participate in the model, they would not be eligible for shared savings until they successfully achieve a star rating of 3 or more.
“South Dakota has led the way in utilization of telehealth, and the RUSH Act acknowledges the success we have seen from using technology to coordinate care for seniors in nursing facilities,” Thune said. “By establishing a voluntary Medicare alternative payment model, the RUSH Act creates the right incentives for nursing facilities to work with a provider group to adopt telehealth to reduce avoidable emergency department visits.”
