The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) is set to end on May 11, and many of the regulatory flexibilities provided by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will also expire.

Why it matters: While the PHE ends on May 11, the virtual supervision flexibility remains in effect through December 31, 2023; many of the telehealth flexibilities run through December 31, 2024. See below for more.

Virtual Supervision
Early in the PHE, CMS temporarily changed the definition of “direct supervision” to include the virtual presence of the supervising clinician through the use of real-time audio and video technology. This flexibility will expire on December 31, 2023.

Access to Telehealth
PHE flexibilities allowed Medicare beneficiaries to access telehealth services without geographic or location limitations. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 extended these flexibilities through December 31, 2024. However, CMS will discontinue the telehealth flexibilities for the on treatment visit (OTV) portion of 77427 at the end of 2023. This flexibility recognized that practices needed flexibility to ensure that both care teams and patients were protected from the virus, but this became less necessary as practices implemented policies to address COVID-19 transmission concerns.

Go deeper with the CMS Fact Sheet on the transition forward from the PHE or visit ASTRO’s COVID-19 Coding Guidance page.