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Billing Medicare for use of telehealth in emergency departments
During the COVID-19 public health emergency, additional emergency care services are covered by Medicare as telehealth. Other related services, such as remote patient monitoring and e-consults, are not considered telehealth for billing purposes, but are reimbursable.
Medicare billing guidance
Below are common codes used to bill for these services. Note: some of these services are temporarily covered during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
| Category | Billing codes |
|---|---|
|
Emergency department |
Evaluation and management: 99281, 99282, 99283, 99284, 99285 |
|
Critical care |
First hour: 99291 Additional 30 min: 99292 |
|
Observation services |
Discharge: 99217 Initial: 99218, 99219, 99220 Subsequent: 99224, 99225, 99226 Observation / discharge on same day: 99234, 99235, 99236 |
|
Hospital discharge day management |
Less than 30 minutes: 99238 30 minutes or more: 99239 |
|
E-consults (interprofessional consults) |
Verbal and written report: 99446, 99447, 99448, 99449 Written report only: 99451 |
|
Remote patient monitoring |
99453, 99454 — 16 day minimum monitoring requirement is waived during the COVID-19 public health emergency (2 days minimum) 99457, 99458, 99091 |
Tip: Services provided virtually while the provider and patient are in the same location — for instance, over a tablet from different rooms within a hospital — are not billed as telehealth.
For more details about billing and reimbursement:
- See the complete list of telehealth services covered by Medicare during the public health emergency from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Tip: For help setting up billing and reimbursement for a new service, contact the National Telehealth Policy Resource Center 
.