Effective June 11, 2018, all Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) health care providers will be able to offer the same level of care to all beneficiaries regardless of the beneficiary’s or the health care provider’s location. In its recently released final rule, the VA stated that in December 2016 Congress mandated that the agency
FSMB Releases Completed Draft Framework for Interstate Physician Licensure
On September 5, 2014, the Federation of State Medical Boards, a nonprofit organization representing the 70 state medical and osteopathic boards nationwide, announced the completion of its drafting process for its Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (“Compact”). Finalizing the Compact is a critical step toward removing one of the major barriers preventing a greater proliferation of
FSMB Releases Revised Draft Framework for Interstate Physician Licensure
One of the largest hurdles to the growth of telehealth—the lack of a streamlined process for obtaining physician licensure in multiple states—is one step closer to being scaled. The Federation of State Medical Boards (“FSMB”) recently released a revised draft of its Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (“Compact”). This revised draft is a continuation of efforts
Things That Should Keep the Telehealth Community Awake at Night (Part 1)
We all know that telehealth is going mainstream. The numbers speak for themselves. A leading research firm predicts that 2.8 million patients worldwide used home-based remote monitoring devices in 2012—expected to increase to 9.4 million connections globally by 2017. Another firm projects that the number of patients using telehealth services in the United States will
Telehealth: The Final Frontier (Q&A)
Telehealth is going mainstream. Once limited to rural or remote communities, the use of telehealth is increasingly being used to address critical shortages within many medical specialties (such as dermatology, neurology, radiology, critical care and mental health), and as a more efficient means to provide health care services. Many leading nationally-recognized health care providers, health
E.U. Way Ahead of the Game on Telehealth
Telehealth is expanding rapidly outside of the U.S. in both developed and developing countries. Not surprisingly, the expanded use of telehealth presents many of the same regulatory and reimbursement challenges abroad that it does here in the U.S. One region in particular that has taken steps to expand telehealth across borders is Europe, where in
Corporate Practice of Medicine: The Unseen Hurdle in Telehealth
When evaluating the various legal and regulatory hurdles associated with telehealth—such as licensure, reimbursement, and privacy—one hurdle that often goes overlooked is the corporate practice of medicine. Many states have enacted laws which directly or indirectly are viewed as prohibiting the “corporate practice” of medicine. While variations exist among states, the doctrine
Progress in Telehealth: Recent Activity a Cause for Optimism
We are all too familiar with the many hurdles that stand in the way of the greater proliferation of telehealth. This blog has examined various legal and regulatory stumbling blocks such as licensure, reimbursement, and privacy that continue to stand in the way of telehealth fulfilling its great promise—at least in the United
Remote Monitoring and the Interstate Practice of Telehealth
The rapid development and utilization of remote patient monitoring tools in health care exposes the limitations of state licensure laws that generally require physicians to be licensed in states where their patients are located. These laws are predicated on the physician and patient being in the same jurisdiction. However, when using mobile-devices to actively monitor
International Telemedicine: 4 Key Considerations to Launching a Global Telemedicine Program
by Joel Rush and Dawn Helak
All indications are that international telemedicine is well positioned for strong growth over the next several years. The global healthcare marketplace is ripe with opportunities for U.S. based healthcare systems and providers to take advantage of the expanding use of telemonitoring systems and other telemedicine technologies to deliver