Safe, convenient, unaffected by social distancing and business closures: it’s no wonder telehealth is gaining popularity in many areas of medicine. This efficient alternative to in-person sessions allows your patients to access the treatments they need from any location, all through chiropractor telehealth software. 

As telehealth consultations become more common, it’s important that providers stay up to date with guidelines and regulations. In this article, we have the key information you need about incorporating telehealth into your chiropractic practice and ensure that you’re documenting and billing for it correctly.

What is telehealth?

Telehealth refers to services and information provided to patients through electronic technologies. Of course, chiropractic telehealth doesn’t mean adjusting people over the phone. While remote services can’t replace clinical chiropractic care, they are a convenient and flexible option to offer your patients.

Telehealth for chiropractors involves consulting with your patients through technology such as phone, video chat, or message. Through these channels, you can:

• Give your patients useful, personalized advice
• Teach them how to do chiropractic exercises safely at home
• Determine whether or not they need to come in for in-person treatments
• Monitor a patient’s progress
• Answer any questions that they may have
  

Remote services are often easier for your patients as they don’t have to drive to your office or wait for their appointment. With many medical professionals now offering telehealth consultations, patients are coming to expect virtual care from their providers. 

There’s plenty of reasons to offer telehealth consulting services through your practice. Electronic communications between yourself and your patient is a modern way to provide convenient, excellent care - and get paid for it too. 

How is chiropractor telehealth software used?

Due to social distancing requirements, the COVID-19 pandemic made telemedicine services much more common than ever before. In response, Medicare and private insurance companies have increased telemedicine coverage and enabled beneficiaries to easily access these services. The government has introduced both temporary and permanent measures to protect this extended coverage for the foreseeable future.

Under Medicare, the reimbursement rate is the same for telehealth consultations and visits as it would be for in-person appointments. Offering remote services doesn’t come with a financial loss, and makes it easier to provide flexible and high quality care to your patients. 

If you’re operating as a telehealth reimbursement chiropractor, it’s important to know what services you can offer remotely and how you can bill for them. There are three main types of telehealth consultation services that are covered under Medicare. These are:

1. Telehealth Consultation Visits

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) describes telehealth visits as a visit between a patient and their provider where telecommunication is used as the primary means of communication. This includes initial evaluations, re-evaluations, and regular treatment sessions. 

2. E-Visits

E-visits are when a provider and patient communicate through an online patient portal. An online portal is an easy way for a patient to ask a quick question or get an update they need. You can bill for e-Visits using CPT codes 99421-99423 and HCPCS codes G2061-G2063. 

3. Virtual Check-ins

These types of appointments are usually a 5-10 minute phone call which determines if an in-person visit, telehealth visit, or other appointment is required. CMS also defines videos and images that a patient sends their provider as a type of virtual check-in. This service can be billed using HCPCS codes G2012 for synchronous communications, and G2010 for asynchronous communications.

You can learn more about billing as a chiropractor for telehealth services via Medicare here.

What are the key CPT codes for consultations as a chiropractor?

It’s important that you know how to handle telehealth documentation, billing, and insurance coverage. Make sure that you’re familiar with Chiropractic CPT Codes and the modifiers you must use to indicate that these services were provided via telehealth.

We have a guide to the most common CPT codes and modifiers that are relevant to chiropractor billing  available to view here, and a guide to some of the most frequently used telemedicine codes here. With an understanding of these cpt codes for consultations and how to use them, you can easily add a new and modern dimension to your chiropractic practice.

Making sure your documentation is correct and complete can be time-consuming, but chiropractic SOAP note software can make all the difference. Healthie is a comprehensive EHR platform for chiropractors, offering: 

• Built-in chiropractic SOAP note templates
• Forms you can easily customize to meet the unique needs of your practice
• The ability to take notes securely within the Healthie platform
• Integration with insurance billing tools
• HIPAA, PIPEDA, GDPR, and PCI-compliance - so all your information is kept secure
  

Simplify your chiropractic SOAP notes and try Healthie’s software today.

Telehealth Software for Chiropractors 

When you’re choosing telehealth software for your chiropractic practice, there are some key things to consider. First and foremost, it's vital that the software you use complies with all HIPAA regulations.

You should also think about your patient communication needs. Do you need video support, or the ability to securely message and work with your patient virtually? If so, you may want to choose a telehealth platform that offers integrated and secure virtual care services.

Healthie offers a comprehensive telehealth solution for chiropractors including:

• HIPAA compliance

• Individual and group sessions
• Secure portal and patient messaging
• Full patient engagement suite
• Easy payment processing
  

Try it yourself - get started with Healthie today for free.