Ocular Telemedicine Is Here to Stay

Most impactfully, vision care plans are have moved away from approving only synchronous methods of communication and moved toward approving asynchronous communication and patient home monitoring in telemedicine services. Asynchronous ocular telemedicine refers to communication between patients and eye care professionals that does not happen in real time, typically denoting virtually transmission of test results for a later assessment. Home monitoring refers to eye care professionals' continued assessment of patients' health status, typically meaning at-home updates and images digitally provided by patients at regular intervals.

Both additions mean more patients get access to — and are insured for — needed eye care, no matter the environment nor their stage of life. Given the proven links between eye health and overall health, vision benefits with these expanded ocular telemedicine approvals allow clients to save money through early detection of vision and wellness issues.

Remote eye care is intrinsically married to in-person care.

According to the "Telemedicine Impact on Health Care Cost and Quality" report by the American Telemedicine Association, outcomes using telemedicine technologies in coordination with "usual care" were similar or better than outcomes with "usual care" alone.

This concept extends to ocular telemedicine, which does not entirely replace in-office visits with eye care professionals. While ocular telemedicine is undoubtedly required in some cases — the COVID-19 pandemic being the one of them — there are instances where in-person eye care is required for sufficient diagnoses and testing, and telemedicine may not be the first point of contact.

Rather, ocular telemedicine should be positioned as a benefits enhancement that strengthens the relationship between eye care professionals and their patients — providing trust and reassurance on an ongoing basis, particularly for those patients who are likely to present with frequent eye issues, such as diabetics.

Policy changes are making ocular telemedicine access wider and simpler.

National, state and private insurers and professional insurance associations have faced mounting pressures to improve telemedicine reimbursement policies, with the COVID-19 pandemic speeding up those changes. In March 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) broadened access to Medicare telemedicine pandemic to allow a wider range of services to be covered — and CMS leadership indicates that this change could be here to stay. To add, there are reports that new legislation regarding tracking, maintaining and improving our ability to provide care through telehealth are receiving bipartisan support.

For ocular telemedicine, specifically, there are still state-by-state limitations on the type of eye care that can be reimbursed by insurers, but more guidelines are being put forth the ensure that most health plans are operating by the same set of standards that improve access to eye care. The National Association of Vision Care Plans recently released a new telemedicine policy statement that helps "serve as a guide for working with managed vision care plans who offer ocular telemedicine as a covered service."

While ocular telemedicine is still evolving, these policy changes highlight the confidence that health plans have in it for care delivery to their members — and they are frequently committing to re-examining their methods, as needs and opportunities for better options arise. Thus, the value of accessing ocular telemedicine through vision benefits, even as the world is changing, is abundantly clear.

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Dr. Mark Ruchman is the chief medical officer at Versant Health, a managed vision care company.