Medi-Cal y Telehealth
Fondo
California defines telehealth as “the mode of delivering health care services and public health via information and communication technologies to facilitate the diagnosis, consultation, treatment, education, care management, and self-management of a patient’s health care while the patient is at the originating site and the health care provider is at a distant site”. (Business and Professions Code section 2290.5(a)(6))
Medi-Cal’s telehealth coverage began in 1996 with the passage of the California Telemedicine Advancement Act (SB 1665), which established telemedicine payment and provision of care requirements, and additional legislation continued to expand access to services through the 2000s. The passage of the Telehealth Advancement Act (AB 415) in 2011 laid the foundation for Medi-Cal to drastically expand coverage of telehealth in Medi-Cal, eliminating the ban on email and telephone-delivered services, permitting patients to verbally consent to telehealth, and enabling all California-licensed and Medi-Cal enrolled providers to practice via telehealth.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) implemented telehealth flexibilities via waivers and Disaster Relief state plan amendments (SPAs). This enabled Medi-Cal’s health care delivery systems to meet the health care needs of our enrollees in an environment where in-person encounters were not recommended and, at times, not available. Additionally, pursuant to Section 380 of Assembly Bill (AB) 133 (Committee on Budget, Chapter 143, Statutes of 2021), DHCS convened a Telehealth Advisory Workgroup for the purposes of informing the 2022 – 2023 Governor’s Budget and the development of post-public health emergency (PHE) telehealth policies.
Medi-Cal Telehealth Panel de utilización
Panel de control Telehealth : Fases I y II
Informe de utilización
- Reporte bienal sobre la utilización Telehealth (julio de 2026)
- Archivo: Reporte bienal sobre la utilización Telehealth (abril de 2024)
Aspectos destacados de la política
Telehealth DHCS : Plan de investigación y evaluación (diciembre de 2022)
DHCS Telehealth Documento de política (diciembre de 2022)
For additional information about Medi-Cal coverage and reimbursement telehealth policies, as well as resources for providers, please see the Telehealth Resources page and Frequently Asked Questions.
El Manual para Proveedores Telehealth DHCSdescribe los requisitos para los proveedores y el reembolso por la capacidad de servicios médicamente necesarios a través de Telehealth. Los detalles específicos Program sobre la política Telehealth de DHCSestán disponibles en los manuales para proveedores de los siguientes programas:
DHCS also published All Plan Letter 23-007 regarding telehealth services in managed care health plans.
Para mantener informado sobre las novedades relacionadas con Telehealth y otros temas DHCS , suscribir a los comunicados para las partes interesadasDHCS . Los proveedores también pueden inscribir para recibir avisos cuando se actualicen los Manuales de Proveedores. También se anima a los proveedores a consultar este sitio web para actualizaciones sobre ella.