Telehealth Services
Telehealth is the use of digital technology, like computers, telephones, smartphones, and tablets, to access health care services remotely. AHCCCS members who cannot travel to an office can use these devices from their homes to attend healthcare appointments with their providers. Telehealth can make access to health care more convenient, saving time and transportation costs.
AHCCCS covers all major forms of telehealth services. Asynchronous (also called “store and forward”) occurs when services are not delivered in real-time, but are uploaded by providers and retrieved, perhaps to an online portal. Telephonic services (audio-only) use a traditional telephone to conduct health care appointments. Telemedicine involves interactive audio and video, in a real-time, synchronous conversation. AHCCCS also covers telehealth for remote patient monitoring and teledentistry.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, AHCCCS added flexibilities to telehealth coverage to promote physical distancing and limit the spread of COVID-19 while also promoting access to healthcare; these flexibilities are posted in the AHCCCS COVID-19 FAQs on telehealth.
The following table lists AHCCCS coverage and provider coding requirements.
AHCCCS Telehealth Summary Table
| WHAT | TECHNOLOGY | TELEHEALTH MODIFIER1 OR APPLICABLE DENTAL CODE | PLACE OF SERVICE (POS) | CODES AVAILABLE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Telemedicine (Synchronous) | Interactive Audio + Video | GT | Originating Site2 | Telehealth Code Set |
| Asynchronous (Store & Forward) | Transmission of recorded health history through a secure electronic communications system | GQ | Originating Site2 | Telehealth Code Set |
| Remote Patient Monitoring | Synchronous (real-time) or asynchronous (store and forward) | GT-Synchronous GQ-Asynchronous |
Originating Site2 | Telehealth Code Set |
| Teledentistry | Synchronous (real-time) or asynchronous (store and forward) | D9995-Synchronous D9996-Asynchronous |
Originating Site2 | Teledentistry Code Set |
| Telephonic | Audio-only | FQ | Originating Site2 | Telehealth Code Set |
| 1 All other applicable modifiers apply. | ||||
| 2 Location of the AHCCCS member at the time the service is being furnished via telehealth or where the asynchronous service originates. | ||||
Additional Telehealth Resources
