Telemedicine has the potential to improve access to care and ease the physician shortage. However, physician licensing and other regulations, a lack of reimbursement parity laws and other obstacles have hindered telemedicine's expansion.
However, several recent developments are poised to foster the expansion of telemedicine.
Reps. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) and Glenn Thompson (R-Penn.) are set to introduce a bill into the House of Representatives next week that has been hailed by health IT advocates as a major step forward in expanding the use of telemedicine across the country.
Their Medicare Telehealth Parity Act of 2014 would significantly expand instances in which Medicare would reimburse for telemedicine services. Currently, Medicare only reimburses for telemedicine services rendered to patients living outside metropolitan statistical areas; this bill would extend coverage to those living in an MSA of fewer than 50,000 residents after six months, to those in MSAs of between 50,000 and 100,000 people in two years and to any Medicare beneficiary in four years. The bill would also expand telemedicine services eligible for reimbursement to include many outpatient therapy services and provide coverage for remote patient monitoring and other home-based telemedicine services.
Another recent bill would expand the availability of telemedicine services to veterans. After weeks of negotiating, lawmakers in the House and Senate reached an agreement this week on legislation to overhaul the Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare system. The new legislation would require the VA to ensure every mobile veterans' center and every mobile medical center is capable of providing telemedicine services.
Earlier in July, members of the Federation of State Medical Boards released a new proposal that would make it easier for physicians to apply for and receive medical licenses in other states, lessening a major barrier to the widespread practice of telemedicine.
The proposal, which would take the form of a legally binding interstate compact, would allow physicians who are board-certified in at least one specialty and who have no history of disciplinary or legal action being taken against them to receive expedited licenses from other states. To facilitate this process, the states' medical boards would share information on physicians' histories with an Interstate Commission, which would oversee the licensing process.
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