New Contract: Welltality – MediCare Annual Wellness Visit

July 8, 2020 by Medigroup

Medicare started reimbursing for annual wellness visits (AWV) in 2011 and the current national completion rate is around 20%. The goal of the visit is to get patients in once per year to assess overall health and determine what is needed in terms of prevention over the next 12 months. The billing requirement for an annual wellness visit is a personalized care plan outlining the patient’s risk factors, needed preventative services, and a 5-year screening schedule. Annual wellness visits are time-consuming and often take a back seat to regular check-ups and sick visits. Most providers simply do not have the time and focus to get the visits done.

Welltality uses a combination of technology and services to complete the majority of the Medicare Annual Wellness visit (AWV) outside the practice walls. Acting as an extension of the practice they educate the patients on why the visit is important, complete the question-based health risk assessment over the phone and schedule the patients to come into the practice for the short in-person portion. By doing this Welltality is able to turn a 30-40 minute visits into a 5-10 minute visit. Once completed, their screening technology automatically generates the required care plan ensuring compliance and saving the provider time. The practice then bills for the service and pays Welltality a flat fee out of that reimbursement.

Recently, CMS has approved AWV’s to be done via telemedicine, so the in-person portion can now be completed remotely. In a COVID-19 world, this is the safest option for the patient and the most efficient for the practice.

For more information or to set up a demo, contact Dana Janney at [email protected] or 610-716-2576