Kvedar: Model telehealth policy helps fill void

Telehealth technology is one answer to the looming physician shortage, which currently is further strained by the millions of newly eligible patients under the Affordable Care Act. But the promise of telehealth is in a “state of limbo” as inconsistent state policies and safety concerns curb its use, wrote Joseph Kvedar, MD, founder and director of the Center for Connected Health at Partners HealthCare, in an editorial in Health Affairs.

However, a model policy developed by the Federation of State Medical Boards’ Appropriate Regulation of Telemedicine (SMART) workgroup provides clear definitions and principles that will provide guidance as new telehealth policies are developed, according to Kvedar.

Among these principles are the key following concepts:

• Evaluation and Treatment of Patient: Treatment delivered in an online setting should be held to the same standard of appropriate practice as those in traditional settings.
• Establishing a Treatment Relationship Online: A physician-patient relationship can be established using telemedicine, so long as the standard of care is met.
• Online Prescribing Safeguards: Prescribing in a telehealth encounter should be at the discretion of the physician.
• Ensuring Privacy, Security, Documentation and Continuity: Telehealth encounters should be HIPAA compliant, include informed consent, the generation of a medical record, and support continuity of care.

“This model policy allows for regulatory certainty while encouraging future innovation by creating clear definitions and guidelines on how and when telehealth can be most effectively incorporated into quality patient care,” he wrote, urging state leaders to take action and adopt these policies.

Read the editorial here.