[1st-mile-nm] Sen. Udall drafting bill to kill telemedicine barriers

[Richard Lowenberg]

 Sen. Udall drafting bill to kill telemedicine barriers

 February 02, 2012 | Mary Mosquera

 http://govhealthit.com/news/udall-drafting-bill-remove-telemedicine-barrier

 WASHINGTON--Sen. Tom Udall (D-Utah) anticipates introducing a bill this 
 spring to make it easier for physicians to practice telemedicine in many 
 states instead of applying for a separate license for each state.

 The bill, which is still being drafted, would streamline licensure 
 portability across state lines, according to Fern Goodhart, Udall’s 
 legislative assistant.

 “Telemedicine is medicine, just practiced virtually,” she said at a 
 Jan. 31 Capitol Hill briefing sponsored by the American Telemedicine 
 Association (ATA), which advocates for use of remote medical 
 technologies.

 Legislation may be needed because the private sector market has not 
 generated medical license portability, even with the increasing adoption 
 of health IT and networking capabilities, she said.

 [See also: How politics and politicians are distorting Americans' 
 perception of health reform.]

 Physician licensure has been a barrier to telemedicine because digital 
 health care does not stop at state borders. A physician, who may supply 
 treatment remotely, must obtain a medical license in each of the states 
 where patients receive care via telemedicine, said Jonathan Linkous, ATA 
 CEO.

 “It’s time we explore nationwide licensure reform that will help to 
 increase consumer choice, improve safety and cut costs,” he said. States 
 have the same basic licensure requirements.

 Telemedicine is critical for access to quality care in rural areas, 
 said Deanna Larson, vice president for quality and e-care initiatives 
 for South Dakota-based Avera Health, which offers services across seven 
 states in a primarily rural region of the country.

 The isolation also means that there is not a large enough population to 
 support specialists in the area.

 “These services are vital,” she said. Tele-health has enabled the 
 health plan to avoid $4 million in unnecessary transfer charges and 
 admissions to hospitals.

 Larsen has assigned two employees just to do the lengthy paperwork for 
 licensure. “I’d rather have them working with patients,” she said.

 Federal agencies that provide health care, such as the Veterans Affairs 
 and Defense Departments, offer license portability for their physicians. 
 In addition, the Fiscal Year 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, 
 which President Barack Obama signed into law, incorporated the 
 Servicemembers’ Telemedicine and E-Health Portability (STEP) Act.

 It overcomes some barriers to state licensure for telemedicine so 
 service members can expand the private healthcare professionals 
 available to them in a different state from where they are residing or 
 posted, such as for mental health care, according to Darrell Owens, 
 legislative assistant for Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-Pa.), who 
 introduced the legislation.

 “We will be collecting data to show that this model works,” he said.

 The bill that Udall is developing would streamline licensure with a 
 unified set of standardized data in a comprehensive and interoperable 
 database of primary source verified credentials, Goodhart said. It could 
 include claims history, hospital privileges, criminal background check 
 with a unified application. The information would only have to be 
 entered once.

 “You can think of it as a national practitioner database or unified 
 provider database or a federation-based credential verification source 
 on steroids with improvements,” she said. Ultimately, telemedicine could 
 have nationwide or federal licensure, state reciprocity or mutual 
 recognition and registration, Goodhart said.




-- 
 Richard Lowenberg
 1st-Mile Institute
 Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504
 505-989-9110 / 505-603-5200
 www.1st-mile.com
 rl at 1st-mile.com