What You Need to Know:
– Vivify Health has announced that availability today of new COVID-19 Screening, Self-Isolation and Monitoring Pathways for Vivify+Go mobile solution to providers at non-cost.
– This enables low-risk patients or those with mild symptoms to use their mobile devices to self-screen for COVID-19 by answering a series of questions that follow the current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines.
– The self-screening helps providers scale their availability by reducing the onslaught of worried patients converging on a facility, enabling physicians to focus their attention on those with the greatest COVID-19 health risks.
Vivify Health, the developer of the nation’s leading connected care platform for remote patient care, today announced the availability of new COVID-19 Screening, Self-Isolation and Monitoring Pathways for its Vivify +Go mobile solution to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. The Screening Pathway enables low-risk patients or those with mild symptoms to use their mobile devices to self-screen for COVID-19 by answering a series of questions that follow the current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines.
Addressing the COVID-19 Pandemic with Remote Patient Monitoring
According to a paper published by the Chinese CDC, only 19% of patients who contracted COVID-19 had conditions severe enough to require hospitalization. The effects on the other 81% were mild enough for them to recover safely at home. The availability of Vivify’s COVID-19 Pathways helps already-vulnerable patients reduce their risk of exposure and keep those who have it from passing it on to others by enabling them to remain in their homes for treatment, in all but the most extreme cases. Vivify Health is offering no-cost Screening pathways and scaled volume pricing for COVID-19 Self-Isolation and Monitoring pathways until the CDC says the threat has been significantly reduced in the U.S.
“As the number of reported cases continues to grow, COVID-19 is expected to spread exponentially in the coming weeks,” said Eric Rock, Founder and CEO of Vivify Health. “This type of rapid spread can quickly overwhelm hospitals, acute care centers, primary care physicians and other providers, especially as fear and panic sets in and more people want to be tested ‘just in case.’ With the release of these new Pathways, patients exhibiting similar symptoms who don’t actually have COVID-19 can receive reassurance without having to physically visit their physicians. And four out of five of those who do contract the virus can now receive care remotely through monitoring and telehealth, so they can recover at home with minimal risk to themselves or others.”
Benefits of COVID-19 Self-Screening
The self-screening helps providers scale their availability by reducing the onslaught of worried patients converging on a facility, enabling physicians to focus their attention on those with the greatest COVID-19 health risks. It also saves patients who may not have the disease now from potential exposure in crowded emergency departments (EDs) or physician offices. Vivify Health is offering unlimited use of the COVID-19 Screening pathway to providers at no cost, along with deeply discounted and rapid deployment to providers new to the Vivify Pathways platform.
The COVID-19 Self-Isolation and Monitoring pathways enable all patients, using their mobile devices, to continually update their symptoms, monitored remotely by providers, while receiving constant updates from current CDC guidelines. Additionally, information about other pre-existing health risks such as diabetes, chronic pulmonary obstruction disease (COPD), congestive heart failure (CHF) or any of 90+ other chronic conditions, can also be monitored at home, assuring those at the highest risk levels with COVID-19 receive proper care. As always, Vivify provides built-in telehealth through virtual visits and secure messaging, when direct provider interaction is necessary.
CPT Codes for COVID-19 Monitoring and Management
RPM may be used for COVID-19 monitoring and management under CPT codes 99453, 99454, 99457, and 99458 and virtual check-in code G2012 as well as all current telehealth services. It cannot be used for chronic condition management or principal care management, as those require a chronic condition. CPT codes 99421-99423 (patient-initiated digital communication) and HSPCS codes G2061-G2063 (online assessment) can be furnished via telehealth, and other payment options are also being considered.
Recent Legislation to Address COVID-19 Treatment with Telehealth
The $8.3 billion Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020 has set aside $500 million to pay for Medicare telehealth services (voice and video), and allows the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to waive Medicare telehealth restrictions during the public health emergency so care can be provided regardless of where a patient is located, meaning physicians can be paid for care delivered across state lines*. Additionally, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has already waived telehealth geographic and originating site restriction for Medicare Advantage plans.
