What is Teletherapy?

Teletherapy is mental health counseling over the phone or online.

Teletherapy is any remote therapy that uses technology to help the therapist and client communicate. Some examples of teletherapy include:

• Doing therapy sessions over the phone
• Having a group chat for group therapy
• Using videoconferencing for individual, couples, or group therapy
• Receiving therapy via email or instant messenger
• Using apps that connect clients to therapists and offer therapy within the app

As videoconferencing software improves, more therapists are incorporating this form of virtual mental health support into their practice.

Many psychologists and patients have adopted video conferencing for psychological treatment, that option is not viable for everyone because of technology and access limitations or preference concerns. Teletherapy can be convenient for both the client and the therapist. Most research suggests that it works just as well as in-person counseling.

Advantages of Teletherapy

There are various advantages of teletherapy. Depending on a person’s needs and situation, the advantages can vary, but here are some to think about:

• It can be more accessible to people who are physically ill, not able to easily leave the house
• It’s more convenient than traveling to in-person therapy and offers more flexibility because you don’t have to worry about adding travel or wait times.
• There may be more privacy because you don’t have to sit in waiting rooms but are in the privacy of your own home.

Teletherapy eliminates travel time since you no longer need to go to your therapist’s office. Regardless of where you live or how far away your therapist’s office is from home, all you need is a computer or a smartphone to begin a video chat session.

Therapists generally offer a lot more flexibility in scheduling teletherapy sessions since there is no physical office to close up at the end of the day.

Teletherapy Billing

Many code changes for COVID-19 health care cover Teletherapy Billing and include specific information for visits that are video- or audio-only. It is important to note that most states distinguish between reimbursement standards for permanent telehealth policies and temporary COVID-19 reimbursement policies.

Medicare billing guidance

These are common codes used to bill for services, including some that were updated for the 2021 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS). Note: Although some services will be permanently reimbursable, this list also includes those that are temporarily covered, due to the COVID-19 public health emergency, and may be subject to change. See the complete list of telehealth services covered by Medicare during the public health emergency from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.