Your questions answered

WCH Service Bureau has been working hard on keeping you on the same page with all the relevant regulations and issues that may affect your practice in some ways. Here are the two most popular questions that we had received from our clients in December:

Question: Can a physical therapist supervise the services performed by a physical therapy assistant using telecommunication technology?

Answered by Arslan Suleymanov, medical reimbursement specialist, and editor-in-chief of WCH Insights:

Yes, PTs are allowed to remotely supervise PTAs that are following the treatment plan previously developed by a PT. Medicare covers remote physical therapy supervision service as long as the Public Health Emergency is in effect. This new flexibility, called “direct supervision through virtual presence” covers direct supervision when the physical therapist is available via real-time audio/visual communication (ZOOM, FaceTime, anything with audio and video). However, coverage is not guaranteed by commercial plans since many of them apply a different reimbursement policy, and it should be considered on an individual basis.

Question: How to report services performed outside of your regular schedule?