Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare systems recognized the convenience and benefits of using telemedicine and home-based test sampling practices—but a clear divide remains—the regulations guiding home testing standards make a clear distinction between medical tests performed in healthcare and consumer settings.
Though currently, only a very limited number of home-based tests, such as those used to support diabetic monitoring, have officially been approved. However, since January 2019, when the pandemic began, the lines between what is considered lawful and appropriate have only continued to blur.
Terminology such as antigen testing, PCR testing, accuracy, sample, and sensitivity have entered the common vocabulary. Clearly, it’s time for new non-discriminatory regulations and reimbursement standards for home testing to be codified in state and federal law.
Today, patient consumers have a great deal of freedom to exercise choice around personal preferences for home-based tests according to accuracy, accessibility, and ease of use. Additionally, healthcare providers have increasingly accepted diagnostic test data which did not originate in a regulated laboratory setting.
Many professionals across the healthcare industry believe that embracing new regulations and reimbursement standards for home-based testing will lead to cost savings and greater efficiency of care delivery by reducing the need for in-clinic visits.
In this article, learn more about how regulations for home-based testing standards should be reconsidered to support the more widespread adoption of telehealth across the healthcare landscape.
Supporting the Evolution of Hybrid-Care Models: New Regulatory Standards for Home-Based Testing
The rapid adoption of telehealth in recent years has occurred in tandem with increased patient consumer use of home-based sampling tests. In 2019, 840,000 Medicare visits were completed using telehealth services and by 2021, that number had increased to 52.7 million visits—a 63-fold increase.
At-home testing, which allows patients to self-collect medical samples or perform an entire diagnostic process themselves has been found to improve patient satisfaction, support better clinical outcomes and lead to overall lower healthcare costs. By supporting the proliferation of home-based testing standards supported by telehealth services, providers are empowered to more effectively serve disadvantaged populations by removing barriers to their care.
Virtual care visits supported by accurate medical tests reduce patient travel time, waiting room time, and reduce the need for missed work or childcare to support care appointments. It’s time to advocate for regulatory and reimbursement policies which will support home-testing without creating advantages or disadvantages for providers or patients when compared to current in-clinic testing methods.
The benefits of expanding patient access to telehealth-supported home-based medical tests are:
- Patient Convenience Drives Compliance: By supporting workflows that increase flexibility and patient convenience, compliance with monitoring standards will increase. Limiting the impact of travel and scheduling concerns vastly increases the ability for patients to follow their doctors' recommendations and stick with their care plans.
- Routine Screening Leads to Better Health Outcomes: Screening tests are preventative measures that seek to identify health issues that patients may not be showing symptoms for. For example, screening services can be very effective for identifying colorectal cancer before it spreads and is still relatively easy to treat. When identified during an early stage, the 5-year survival rate increases to 90%.
- Increase Health Equity Across Disadvantaged Populations: 70% of medical decisions today are determined based on diagnostic tests. Individuals living in rural communities and coming from low-socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely to be Medicaid recipients or uninsured. By removing barriers to care and empowering these patients to engage with preventative services instead of acute emergency treatments, there is a real opportunity to overcome barriers to care which have led to negative health outcomes for these populations.
- Monitoring Services Support a More Efficient Healthcare Ecosystem: Nearly 154 million Americans are living with at least one chronic condition requiring regulatory monitoring to triage treatment and monitor disease progression. These chronic diseases disproportionately impact those of low-socioeconomic backgrounds and place a tremendous strain on healthcare networks due to reliance on urgent care. By offering more robust preventative monitoring services at home using telehealth, health care systems will be more efficient and resilient to crisis.
Register for Avoid the Telehealth Cliff: Managing Risk in Virtual Care
Pre-pandemic, state, and federal regulations greatly limited providers’ ability to deliver care remotely. Thanks to the public health emergency, however, providers have spent the last two years adapting to — and benefiting from — expanded telehealth flexibility. Patients love it. In fact, they’ve come to expect it.
While there’s no putting the genie of patient experience back in the bottle, some states have begun a return to more stringent regulations while others are adapting their policies to fit the “new normal.”
At the federal level, however, questions abound:
- Will Medicare beneficiaries lose access to care once the current waivers expire?
- How likely is the Biden administration to extend them?
- Which changes might Congress make permanent?
Uncertainties like these make it difficult to develop a long-term telehealth strategy, especially for large, multi-state hospitals and healthcare organizations. Get the answers your organization needs and avoid the telehealth cliff.
This webinar will discuss:
- Which state and federal policies have had the biggest impact on care delivery
- How legislators are trying to balance patient rights with the need for access to high-quality care
- What steps you can take now to develop a sustainable and compliant telehealth strategy
