The state of telehealth is widely varied across the country, as state telehealth laws and Medicaid program policies are all distinct. Here are six key findings on telehealth policy trends, from the Center for Connected Health Policy's "State Telehealth Laws and Reimbursement Policies" report.
1. Forty-seven states and Washington, D.C., have some form of reimbursement for telehealth in their Medicaid policies. Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Utah are the three states that do not have a written definitive reimbursement policy.
2. Live video consultations are most predominantly reimbursed, with all states, except for those listed prior, offering some type of live video reimbursement by Medicaid. However, what states reimburse for, and how they reimburse for it, is largely varied. Restrictions are often on specialty type as well as the type of services that can be reimbursed (office visit, inpatient consultation, etc.), the type of provider that can be reimbursed (physician, nurse, etc.) and the patient's originating site.
3. Many states only reimburse for live feed telehealth services, meaning "store-and-forward" services are largely excluded. States that defined and reimburse store-and-forward services are:
- Alaska
- Arizona
- California
- Illinois
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- New Mexico
- Virginia
- Washington
4. Sixteen states offer reimbursement for remote patient monitoring in their Medicaid program, up from six states in 2013.
5. By and large, email, telephone and fax are excluded from permissible forms of care delivery, unless they are used in conjunction with another type of system.
6. Nine state medical boards offer special licenses or certificates related to telehealth.
- Alabama
- Louisiana
- Maine
- New Mexico
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Tennessee
- Texas
For more information or to access the full report, click here.
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