For leaders making digital integral to how care is accessed, delivered, and scaled.

Ascension

Ascension Telehealth Pilot Shows Reduced Strain on Primary Care

Ascension’s pilot telehealth program deployed one advanced practice nurse to support two clinics virtually three days per week and logged 887 virtual visits in its first four months, many replacing in-person appointments. The result: reduced scheduling bottlenecks, improved access for patients with transport or mobility barriers, and an expansion to a second site after hitting volume targets.  Read More »

Houston Methodist

Houston Methodist Launches Digital Health Training Program

Duke Health

Duke Health Developing Agentic AI Tools

Build the Playbooks That Power Digital Care

The ATA Insights Summit is where digital health leaders stop talking and start building. This highly interactive, hands-on experience puts you at the center of co-designing frameworks, toolkits, and operational playbooks that directly address today’s most pressing challenges — from scaling smart care models to modernizing infrastructure and proving ROI.

With real-world case studies, connected conversations across disciplines, and ready-to-implement strategies, you’ll leave energized, equipped, and aligned to accelerate transformation nationwide.

FEDERAL POLICY UPDATES

The Telehealth Shutdown

As expected, yesterday started the first government shutdown since 2019 and the first time the telehealth flexibilities have lapsed since put in place by President Trump in 2020. ATA Action strongly believes these flexibilities will be reinstated in the final short-term Continuing Resolution (CR), but the length of the shutdown is a major concern.

Within hours of the shutdown, we sent letters to President Trump and Congressional leaders urging them to promptly reinstate the telehealth flexibilities and the Acute Hospital Care at Home program, and to enact a retroactive telehealth reimbursement provision. We also asked Congress and the Trump Administration to consider any existing regulatory or executive authorities to maintain care continuity while awaiting formal Congressional action. Link to our full statement.

Read our letter to President Trump.

Read our letter to Senate Majority Leader Thune, Minority Leader Schumer, Speaker Johnson, and House Minority Leader Jeffries.

What Does the Telehealth Shutdown Mean for Healthcare Organizations?

• In most cases, providers would no longer be reimbursed for telehealth visits delivered to Medicare beneficiaries in their homes. Pre-pandemic rural and facility restrictions would return.
• Critical programs like Hospital at Home will face major disruption. CMS has released guidance specifically stating “For all hospitals with active AHCAH waivers, all inpatients must be discharged or returned to the hospital on September 30, 2025.”
• Therapists including occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech language pathologists, and audiologists will not be able to provide telehealth services.
• Audio-only will no longer be broadly covered, except when the patient is in their home AND the distant site provider has the capability to use live video but the patient cannot or does not wish to use it.
• The telemental health in-person requirements will come into effect. Here is a great CMS resource with specifics.
• While the DEA extended flexibilities for prescribing controlled substances via telehealth until December 2025, providers may struggle to sustain telehealth-based care without reimbursement in place. 

ATA Action: Leading Industry Voice

In just the past few days, our policy team has been quoted in a number of press releases related to the telehealth deadline, providing perspective and highlighting the real-world impact of losing access to telehealth services.

In the past three days, our policy team have been featured in dozens of news stories, including TIME Magazine, Bloomberg, Axios, Fierce Healthcare, Home Health Care News, The Washington Post, Medical Economics, Modern Healthcare, Healthcare Dive, POLITICO, and a series of reports on Central Florida News 13, with more coverage in the works! The ATA and ATA Action have also been featured in press statements from The White House and Majority Whip Tom Emmer.

ATA Action continues to:

• Push Congress to act immediately
• Minimize disruption and ensure any lapse is as brief as possible
• Secure retroactive payment for providers
• Make telehealth flexibilities and Hospital at Home permanent
  

CMS Guidance: Medicare Telehealth & Hospital at Home Suspended

Yesterday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) issued an update on Medicare operations confirming what we feared: with the government shutdown and Congressional inaction, Medicare telehealth flexibilities and the Acute Hospital Care at Home program are suspended as of October 1.

Key points from CMS:

• Claims are being temporarily held (up to 10 business days) – a standard practice to avoid reprocessing if Congress acts retroactively.
• Pre-pandemic restrictions are back: no telehealth for most beneficiaries at – home or outside rural areas; certain face-to-face requirements reinstated.
• Mental health telehealth continues under prior legislation.
• ACO participants may still provide/bill some telehealth services.

Make Your Voice Heard!

• Reach out to your Members of Congress urging them to extend the telehealth flexibilities. Here is our grassroots advocacy tool – feel free to share far and wide.
• Share your stories with the ATA. We want to hear how you are preparing for the lapse and examples of impact. Please email aapple@americantelemed.org with those details.

Advancing Digital Health Coalition Updates

Prescription Drug-Use-Related Software (PDURS)
ATA Action members have finalized the Prescription Drug-Use-Related Software (PDURS) Guidance recommendations, and we are preparing to submit to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This is the result of months of work with our members. After an incredible week on Capitol Hill, ATA Action members have built appropriate support from Congressional staffers and made our requests clear to the FDA.

Once our recommended updates on the PDURS guidance are submitted, we will work with the FDA to finalize the guidance.

The FDA needs to hear from you! If you are working on a PDURS project, please reach out to Andy Molnar (amolnar@ataaction.org) to help you confidentially share your project with the FDA. We need to keep the momentum going!

Access to Prescription Digital Therapeutics Act
We continue to build co-sponsors for the Access to Prescription Digital Therapeutics Act, adding Representatives Wittman and Panetta in September.

Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) Update
We had another meeting with a Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) this week, where we discussed coding, benefit category, and conditions of payment. We also added further clarity to the distinction between mobile health and FDA regulated products, as well as the “COGS” associated with software. We will provide the full read out at the next coalition meeting on October 28. Questions? Please contact Andy Molnar (amolnar@ataaction.org). 

State Policy Updates

California: This week Governor Newsom sign AB 1503 into law. This legislation is the regular reauthorization bill for the California Board of Pharmacy. When the bill was first introduced, it included several concerning provisions which would have subjected pharmacies working with telehealth platforms to heightened requirements.

ATA Action was able to secure the elimination of these provisions along with some of the more onerous provisions regarding non-resident pharmacies. 

Illinois: ATA Action also continues to seek improvements to Illinois HB 1806 which was signed into law earlier this year and is related to the use of AI in mental healthcare. Our state team recently met with the sponsor’s office and submitted redlines that we think will help to address outstanding concerns in the current statute.

From Washington, DC — with 🧡 for the work our community leads in care.