{"id":8928,"date":"2016-03-16T14:07:15","date_gmt":"2016-03-16T14:07:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.edrugstore.com\/blog\/?p=8928"},"modified":"2016-03-18T21:30:03","modified_gmt":"2016-03-18T21:30:03","slug":"is-telemedicine-moving-faster-than-the-us-can-handle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.edrugstore.com\/blog\/current-health-news\/is-telemedicine-moving-faster-than-the-us-can-handle\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Telemedicine Moving Faster than the US Can Handle?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Telemedicine\"
Telemedicine offers a cost-effective way to meet the growing U.S. demand for health care services.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/i>To help meet the ever-expanding demand for health care services, telemedicine is expanding rapidly across the United States and in other parts of the world as well. However, this explosive growth is outpacing the ability of state legislators and regulators to create the legal and regulatory framework that this innovative form of health care delivery needs to support its expansion.<\/p>\n

In an article that appeared in the February 2016 issue of Governing magazine<\/a>, staff writer Mattie Quinn points out that all too often state legislatures and regulatory agencies are playing catch-up, trailing well behind the lead of the burgeoning telemedicine sector.<\/p>\n

More Than 200 Bills Introduced<\/b><\/p>\n

Quinn reports that state legislatures were kept busy on the telemedicine front in 2015 as more than 200 telemedicine-related bills were introduced. While progress on state telemedicine policy is being made, it simply isn’t moving ahead fast enough to keep up with the expansion of telemedicine nationwide. In 2011, she notes, only 11 states had telemedicine parity laws requiring that insurers pay the same amount for a telehealth consultation as they would for an in-person visit to the doctor’s office. As of early 2016, that number has expanded to 29 and the District of Columbia, says Quinn.<\/p>\n

As 2016 began, eight more states had telemedicine parity bills awaiting legislative action. And three states — Florida, Missouri, and New Mexico — are reportedly considering legislation that would make it easier for out-of-state health providers to provide telemedicine services to patients in those states.<\/p>\n

\"Telemedicine\"
To pave the way for the expansion of telemedicine, state legislators and regulators need to move toward uniformity in the laws and regulations governing the practice of telemedicine.<\/figcaption><\/figure> Florida Legislation<\/b><\/p>\n

In Florida, a bill has been introduced in the state Senate that would allow health care providers in other states to consult with Florida patients as long as they met certain criteria. Out-of-state providers would have to pay a $150 registration fee to Florida, and they would also have to agree not to treat Florida residents in person.<\/p>\n

In a move almost certain to further support telemedicine expansion in Florida, the state’s chamber of commerce in January 2016 issued a statement pointing out that telemedicine has the potential to save Florida taxpayers $1 billion annually. In its statement, the chamber noted that “telemedicine can help bridge the gap between the growing number of patients and the decreasing supply of doctors.”<\/p>\n

Bills in Missouri, New Mexico<\/b><\/p>\n

Pending legislation in Missouri would allow out-of-state physicians to provide telemedicine services to Missouri residents providing that the health care providers are properly licensed and have previously examined the patients in person. The pending bill in New Mexico is much narrower in scope. It would allow osteopathic doctors outside the state to provide telemedicine services to New Mexico residents, essentially granting to them the same privileges already available to out-of-state medical doctors.<\/p>\n

Two of the states lagging behind the others, particularly in the area of physician practice standards, are Texas and Arkansas. Both Texas and Arkansas require that a patient have a prior relationship with a physician before a telemedicine encounter can occur between the two. But even Texas and Arkansas have enacted policies that are to some degree favorable for the expansion of telemedicine.<\/p>\n

Texas, Arkansas Back Rate Parity<\/b><\/p>\n

Texas law calls for parity in the way private insurers and the state employee health plan cover telemedicine services, meaning that such services should be reimbursed at the same rates as comparable services provided in a more traditional patient-physician setting. Beginning January 1, 2016, Arkansas law also mandates parity in how insurers reimburse for telemedicine services.<\/p>\n

The Medicaid programs in all states but Connecticut and Rhode Island already offer some degree of coverage for telemedicine services, but it is not necessarily on a par with traditional health care services, according to Quinn. In the year ahead, Congress is scheduled to consider legislation that would expand Medicare coverage for telemedicine services.<\/p>\n

National Providers Face Challenge<\/b><\/p>\n

The lack of uniformity in telemedicine policies from one state to the other is particularly hard on telemedicine providers that operate in multiple states or even nationwide. In an interview with Quinn, Kofi Jones, vice president of public relations and government affairs for the telemedicine provider American Well, said she is eagerly waiting for the day when parity laws are uniform across the country. Noting that she has 30 binders in her office that spell out state-by-state laws and regulations, Jones said that when that day comes, she’s planning “a binder-burning party.”<\/p>\n

<\/i>With just a few notable exceptions, states have been attempting to create a climate that is hospitable to the growth of telemedicine within their borders, but they simply cannot move quickly enough to get the job done. In late January 2016, the American Telemedicine Association released its two latest reports on what the states are doing on the telemedicine policy front.<\/p>\n

\"Telemedicine\"
Telemedicine’s technologies affect virtually every aspect of health care services.<\/figcaption><\/figure> ATA Reports Chart State Progress<\/b><\/p>\n

The first of the ATA reports<\/a> focuses on gaps in state policies involving coverage and reimbursement. The second report<\/a> looks at gaps in state policies covering physician practice standards and licensure. In releasing these reports on January 28, 2016, ATA Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Linkous said they “provide an important barometer for gauging how each state is performing. The first step to ensuring that sound policy leads to better health care delivery is to understand where gaps in policy exist today and what to do about them.”<\/p>\n

According to the ATA’s report on practice standards and licensure, three states — Alabama, Michigan, and South Dakota — significantly improved their scores since the association’s previous report was issued in May 2015. This means that the policies in those three states are much more compatible with the expanding use of telemedicine.<\/p>\n

Alabama Makes Giant Strides<\/b><\/p>\n

Among the three states, Alabama made the most significant progress, repealing all regulations specifically governing the practice of telemedicine, thus putting telemedicine on an even playing field with traditional in-person health care delivery. In its May 2015 report, Alabama had been grouped together with Arkansas and Texas as the three states least hospitable to the practice of telemedicine.<\/p>\n

Another strong advocate for the expansion of telemedicine services is the ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) Industry Committee, a trade association
\nthat advocates for the employee benefit and compensation interests of America’s largest employers. In a recent plea for greater legislative and regulatory uniformity on the issue of telemedicine, Allison Wils, the committee’s director of health policy, said telemedicine technology “has opened up this huge opportunity, this game changer. The problem is that there are still varying levels of comfort with it across the states.”<\/p>\n

If you’d like to read additional articles about telemedicine and related issues of interest to health consumers, check out our blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Don Amerman<\/a> is a freelance author who writes extensively about a wide array of nutrition and health-related topics.<\/i><\/p>\n

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To help meet the ever-expanding demand for health care services, telemedicine is expanding rapidly across the United States and in other parts of the world as well. However, this explosive growth is outpacing the ability of state legislators and regulators to create the legal and regulatory framework that this innovative form of health care delivery […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8974,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_autoblog_aioseo_focus_keyphrase":"","_autoblog_aioseo_title":"","_autoblog_aioseo_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[189],"class_list":["post-8928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-health-news","tag-telemedicine"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t