Frequently Asked Questions About Telehealth

All our telehealth providers work for the University of Colorado School of Medicine or Children’s Hospital Colorado. The same regulations and laws that apply to in-person care also apply to telehealth visits, and we make sure that our telehealth providers meet these standards. Our providers usually need to be licensed in the state where your child will be located during the visit – please talk to your clinical team in advance if you will be outside Colorado during your telehealth visit.

We use telehealth platforms that are HIPAA-compliant and encrypted, just like all of our systems in the hospital. Our providers will not work out of “unsecure” areas, like coffee shops, where other people could overhear your visit. We’ll also tell you if anyone will be present during your visit that you can’t hear or see. If there’s someone you do not want to be present at your location or the provider’s, just let us know. We do not record telehealth visits without your permission. We also ask that you do not make a recording of the visit on your end without your provider’s permission.

During your telehealth visit, the provider will be able to see and hear you and your child. You will see the provider on most of the video screen.  Please feel free to move around during the visit as long as you can stay in range of the camera and microphone.

You’ll need a reliable internet connection and a computer, phone or tablet. We recommend using your home Wi-Fi connection or an unlimited cellular data plan. Our video conferencing system uses more cellular data than other video platforms like Facetime or Skype due to the additional security features.

Most of our telehealth visits are scheduled so you can easily launch the visit from your MyChart account. For more information on how to join your telehealth visit, watch this short video.

We can add interpreters, including for American Sign Language, to the video conference. Let your provider or the clinic staff know if you want an interpreter for your visit.

Our MyChart Help Desk team members are trained to help you with our telehealth technology, even when you are not using our MyChart patient portal to start your telehealth visit. Call 720-777-6939 for assistance between 7 a.m. and 4:30p.m. Help Desk team members speak English and Spanish; for other languages, we can add an interpreter to your call.

Telehealth visits are convenient. You do not have to travel to one of our locations, which saves you time, including missed work and school. You can also include other family members or your home medical care team in the video visit, and your child may feel more comfortable at home.

There are some medical situations that won’t work for telehealth. For example, kids who need more comprehensive physical exams, imaging, diagnostic tests or procedures will need to receive care in person. We only offer telehealth services that we believe are appropriate for the technology.

Insurers generally cover outpatient telehealth visits in places where we offer this service. However, we can’t guarantee that your insurer will cover the visit. The best way to avoid any surprises is to speak to your insurer before your telehealth visit.

To check if telehealth is covered by your child’s health insurance plan:

Call the member services number (listed on the back of your child’s insurance card) and ask about telehealth. Here are some questions you may want to ask:

• Is the telehealth service that I want covered by my child’s health insurance plan? Describe the type of visit and who the visit is with. For example: a pulmonology telehealth visit to manage my child’s asthma, or a telehealth visit with a dietitian to manage my child’s celiac disease.
• Are there any restrictions to my telehealth coverage?
• Is there a limit on the number of telehealth visits I can have?
• What is the cost of a telehealth visit? Does it cost the same as an in-person visit? Your cost can be made up of a copay, coinsurance and/or deductible, depending on your plan.
• Is there any difference in my coverage if the telehealth visit happens while my child is at home, rather than at a clinic such as our primary care provider’s office?

If the telehealth service you want is not covered:

We recommend asking the representative to tell you where to find the link on their website that defines the specific telehealth services policy. Then you can see if they are applying the policy correctly to your child’s medical needs. During the COVID-19 pandemic, also ask the representative about any pandemic-related exceptions to the policy that may not be easily found on the website.

How to file an appeal:

If the telehealth service you want is not covered, you may also be able to appeal. Ask the agent to connect you with a supervisor or someone from their appeals department. When requesting an appeal, explain why telehealth would be better than in-person care for your child. If you are approved for the visit after an appeal, please request documentation and an authorization number for your records. A more long-term, time intensive option is to ask how you can advocate for change to the policy that includes telehealth coverage for your child.

Other options:

You can also choose to pay the cost of the visit on your own in case your child’s health plan does not cover telehealth services. This option may make sense if:

• You have a high-deductible plan
• It would cost you more money to travel to one of our in-person clinics
• You would have to miss a lot of work for an in-person visit.

Please let your appointment scheduler or health care provider know if you would like to have an in-person visit at one of our campuses. Whether it’s in-person or telehealth, we strive to give you the best experience possible.

No. If you aren’t comfortable with the way our telehealth visits work, please let us know that you would prefer in-person care at one of our campuses.

To get started, just ask your child’s doctor, scheduler or care team if telehealth could work for your child’s visit.