CMS urged not to require certain telehealth providers to list home address

AHA again urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services March 20 to permanently allow telehealth providers to administer services from their homes without listing their home address on Medicare enrollment and claims forms, which would pose privacy and safety risks, add unnecessary operational and administrative burden, and could lead to confusion regarding practice location.

“Requiring providers to list their personal home addresses on enrollment and claims forms poses privacy and safety risks,” AHA wrote. “Specifically, enrollment practice location addresses are publicly available on websites like CMS Care Compare. …This could provide this information to, for example, disgruntled patients or caregivers, or patients experiencing acute psychological distress. This is a particular concern given the increased violence against health care workers.”