NCART Pushes to Extend Telehealth for CRT

Association calls on CRT stakeholders to advocate on behalf of a bill that would expand telehealth access, as well as to complete a survey on examples of telehealth in CRT.

• By David Kopf
• May 27, 2021

The National Coalition for Assistive and Rehab Technology (NCART) is calling on complex rehab stakeholders to help protect the ability to use telehealth when provisioning complex rehab technology (CRT).

During the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), CMS relaxed telehealth policy to let CRT specialists use the capability in serving CRT patients. However, those policy relaxations are set to expire when HHS ends the PHE.

“From the CRT perspective, our priority is ensuring Physical Therapists (PTs) and Occupational Therapists (OTs) retain the option to provide telehealth services,” NCART Executive Director Donald Clayback noted in a public statement.

To accomplish that, NCART is urging CRT stakeholders to take two actions:

1. Send an email to their lawmakers to let them know you need their support in backing H.R. 2168, the Expanded Telehealth Access Act, which extend that telehealth access for CRT. The email, at protectmymobility.org, also explains the important role PTs and OTs telehealth play in patient care.
2. Complete a telehealth survey from NCART’s National CRT Remote Services Consortium that will gather data and examples on telehealth use in CRT. NCART will use that information to educate Congress and other policy makers. The survey’s goal is to collect real-life examples of how PT and OT telehealth benefitted people with disabilities who use CRT so lawmakers and regulators understand the need to designate PTs and OTs as permanent telehealth practitioners.

“Ensuring there is a permanent PT/OT telehealth option after the PHE expires is important to protect continued access to CRT for people with disabilities,” Clayback noted.