CMS to Relax Medicare Restrictions on Telemedicine Credentialing

Starting July 5, 2011, Medicare will implement a new credentialing and privileging process for health care professionals providing telemedicine services. Hospitals or critical assess hospitals receiving telemedicine services will not be required to individually credential and privilege the professionals providing telemedicine services. The hospitals will be permitted to rely on the decisions made by another Medicare-accredited hospital or a distant site telemedicine entity, which could include private telemedicine provider organizations. However, the hospital must ensure that the distant site telemedicine entity, through a written agreement, has a credentialing and privileging process that meets or exceeds the hospital’s processes . . .