I’m a huge believer in doing things remotely – work, meetings, and now health care!! It seems that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) are looking at paying physicians for non face-to-face encounters with patients who have chronic diseases. Hopefully this will lead to payment for all providers (nurse practitioners and physician assistants) as well as diabetes educators, someday.
Last year I was interviewed by Hope Warshaw as part of PresentDiabetes.com’s AADE program. One of the questions Hope asked me was whether diabetes professionals are willing to use technology and I responded at the time that while I believe many – if not most – are ready and willing, until the health care system gets on board with it, it’s not going to happen at the level patients deserve. Diabetes educators, by nature, would work for free. That’s how much they care about people with diabetes. But it’s not realistic – diabetes professionals still have to put food on their tables and keep the lights on.
Remote care and education are wonderful and much-needed options, and figuring out a way to provide reimbursement for diabetes services through these media is a priority. It’s exciting to see that CMS is at least discussing this important approach. I hope it will continue to grow until all people, regardless of location, can receive the services they need.