Tradition holds sway for coding hospital visits during the PHE

Why This Topic Matters

Hospitals and coding teams needed to know whether temporary pandemic-era E/M flexibility applied outside office/outpatient settings. The article helps readers place hospital telehealth encounters in the correct regulatory and coding context without confusing them with separate office-visit policy changes.

Article Sections

1. Question and answer on hospital telehealth visit coding during the PHE

   Introduces the issue of whether temporary office-visit E/M changes applied to hospital inpatient and observation encounters delivered by telehealth during the public health emergency.

2. CMS policy context and timeline

   Summarizes the relevant CMS action during 2020 and the later transition to updated E/M guidance. The section places the temporary pandemic policy in context and identifies the general scope of the policy change.