Starting January 1, 2026, supervising physicians are no longer required to be physically present in the office suite in order to possibly bill a service incident-to. They can now be virtually present. However, CMS was not clear as to whether the supervising physician needed to be connected virtually at the time they are needed vs. calling them to get online. Until CMS clarifies, It is our opinion that the supervising physician should be connected virtually at the time they are needed.

Split-Shared Visit Rules Remain for 2026.

Congress has extended last year’s Medicare rules for telehealth until December 31, 2027. This means that providers can continue to provide telehealth services to Medicare patients when the patient is in their home. Audio-Visual and Audio-Only services can be billed.