Telemedicine for Ambetter
At Ambetter from Sunshine Health, we know that the more options your Ambetter patients, our members, have to see and communicate with their healthcare providers, the better. That is why we are here to support you as you expand or begin using telemedicine to effectively and efficiently deliver healthcare services to your patients.
Telemedicine can help you:
- Engage patients to take a more active role in their health
- Treat patients with non-emergent health issues remotely, or after hours
- Improve efficiency with fewer no-show appointments
- Expand your geographic reach, especially to patients in rural areas
- Refer patients to out-of-area specialists
- Improve health outcomes and care coordination
To help ensure our members have access to the healthcare services they need, we are committed to helping you overcome barriers in the delivery of telemedicine. Please call us if you have questions or need assistance with issues like technology, billing or reimbursement.
Telemedicine Training
Ambetter from Sunshine Health is excited to offer monthly Telemedicine Training.
Monthly training is available under our Provider Training page. Once on this page, providers need to scroll down to the telemedicine training section.
How to sign up
- Click the link on the page to register for the webinar.
- A webinar invitation will be sent to you via email. Once the invitation is received, click on the link provided in the email to register (this step is required for attendance).
- You will receive a confirmation email with a link and instructions for joining the webinar. NOTE: Please check junk folder if confirmation is not received.
- When you join the webinar, the call-in telephone number and an attendee passcode will be displayed.
Telemedicine FAQ
Telemedicine includes the use of interactive audio, video or other electronic media for providing a diagnosis, consultation or treatment, as defined by Agency for Health Care Administration guidelines.
Benefits include:
- Improving access and quality of care for members who are homebound or live in rural areas
- Strengtheningphysician-patient relationships
- Increasingcare coordination and communication
- Reducing healthcare costs
- Enhancing coverage for primary care physicians, specialists and behavioral health providers
No, unless the provider is delivering services that normally require prior authorization.
Practitioners who may furnish and receive payment for covered telemedicine services (subject to Florida State law) include:
- Physicians
- Nurse practitioners
- Physician assistants
- Nurse-midwives
- Clinical nurse specialists
- Certified registered nurse anesthetists
- Registered dietitians or nutrition professionals
Ambetter from Sunshine Health will cover services provided via telemedicine to the same extent that Ambetter from Sunshine Health covers the same services in person. The provider must be licensed within the State of Florida and a member must be present and participating in the visit.
The initial cost of telemedicine equipment to receive and transmit services is not covered, as well as:
- Telephone conversations
- Electronic mail messages
- Facsimiles
- Services rendered via a webcam or Internet based technologies (i.e., Skype, Tango, etc.) that are not part of a secured network and do not meet HIPAA encryption compliance
- Video cell phone interactions
- Failed or unsuccessful transmissions
The appropriate medical documentation must appear in the member’s medical record to justify medical necessity for the level of service reimbursed.
- The record must reflect the level of service billed and must be legible
- Documentation must be maintained at both the origination and distant sites to substantiate the services provided
- Services must be clearly and separately identified in the member’s medical record
- Documentation must indicate the services were rendered via telemedicine and the location of the originating and distant sites
- All other The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) guidelines apply to services rendered via telemedicine. Examples include but are not limited to chart notes; start and stop times; date of visits; provider’s signature; service provider’s credentials; and, physician findings, diagnosis, illness, prescribed treatment, and more
An originating site is the location where a member is at the time the telemedicine service occurs.
A distant site is where the provider/specialist is seeing the patient at a distance. A distant site is also known as a hub site, specialty site, consulting site, referral site or provider/physician site.
Submit claims for telemedicine/telehealth services using the appropriate CPT or HCPCS code for the professional service, along with the telemedicine/telehealth modifier GT, “via interactive audio and video telecommunications systems with place of service code 02” (i.e., 99201 GT). By coding and billing the GT modifier with a covered telemedicine/telehealth procedure code, a provider is certifying that the beneficiary was present at an eligible originating site when furnished with the telemedicine/telehealth service.