The Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing has amended the medical assistance rule concerning telehealth home health services. The purpose of these proposed amendments is to implement SB 07-196, updated by HB 10-1005, to allow telehealth as a covered service for Colorado Medicaid Home Health recipients.

Home health telehealth is the monitoring of health care data through information processing technologies. It includes the collection of clinical data in a clients home, and the transmission of that data to a home health agency for a clinical assessment and review, and action as needed. These amendments are seen as necessary to initiate the service and comply with CRS 25.5-5-321.

Several items within the proposed rule have also been updated to decrease ambiguity and clarify the intent of the current rules.

A hearing on the amended rule will be held on Friday, August 12, 2011 at The Capitol Center, 225 E. 16th Ave., 6th Floor, Denver, Colorado 80203, beginning at 9:00 am.

Full text of the proposed changes with red line edits to the rule can be found here. Further information about the rule and hearing can be found here.