RELIEF FOR THERAPISTS?

WASHINGTON- Reps. Cindy Axne, Troy Balderson and French Hill last week introduced the Emergency COVID-19 Telehealth Response Act to ensure Medicare reimbursement for clinical social workers, occupational therapists, audiologists, speech pathologists and physical therapists. While CMS has expanded the types of virtual services Medicare pays for during the pandemic, not all practitioners are covered — forcing them either to avoid virtual treatment or deliver it without any payment guarantees.

Such measures could help patients who are currently "forced to choose between taking the precautions of staying home and getting the care they need," Axne said in a news release. Also on telehealth, RSA President Rohit Ghai told Pro Cyber's Tim Starks last week that the world needs to start preparing now for the cyber risks of a post-coronavirus world.

"If during the pandemic we've allowed a lot of our workers to access data from their home environments, is that going to be the new normal going forward?" he said to Tim. "As such, how should our data governance need to evolve? There's going to be a lot of that kind of activity."