By Kim Stanger
Idaho’s new Virtual Care Access Act (the “Act”) amends Idaho’s existing law to make it easier to render telehealth in Idaho effective July 1, 2023. The requirements of the new Act are summarized below. Continue reading
Category Archives: Telehealth
February 8, 2022
Telehealth in Idaho: Regulations Withdrawn
By Kim Stanger
As part of Governor Little’s initiative to reduce nonessential regulations, Idaho licensing boards (including the Idaho Board of Medicine) have withdrawn their rules implementing the Idaho Telehealth Access Act for healthcare providers, including physicians, physician assistants, dentists, and psychologists. (See, e.g., former IDAPA 24.33.03.201 et seq.). Consequently, physicians and most other healthcare providers need only comply with the Act, which requires the following: Continue reading
December 4, 2020
HHS Amends PREP Act Declaration, Including to Expand Access to COVID-19 Countermeasures Via Telehealth
On December 3, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a fourth amendment to the Declaration under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act) to increase access to critical countermeasures against COVID-19. The Holland & Hart Healthcare Group shares this important update from HHS for your information:
We will continue to monitor this news and will provide more in-depth insights on the impacts of this amendment.
August 31, 2020
Telehealth in Idaho and Elsewhere
By Kim Stanger
Telehealth expanded dramatically in response to the COVID pandemic. Now that providers, patients, payers and public officials have seen the benefits, it is almost certain that telehealth will continue to play an increasingly important role in our healthcare delivery system. Providers wishing to practice telehealth in Idaho (and elsewhere) must beware the legal and practical requirements, including those set forth in statute or licensing board regulations. Continue reading
April 24, 2020
More Provider Relief Funds On the Way: Beware Updated Terms and Conditions
By Kim Stanger
On April 22, 2020, HHS announced specifics concerning the next round of the $100 billion Provider Relief Fund payments, some of which should reach provider bank accounts today. https://www.hhs.gov/coronavirus/cares-act-provider-relief-fund/index.html. As with the initial $30 billion, the additional payments come with more strings attached.
Additional Payments.
1. General allocation. An additional $20 billion will go to providers who rendered diagnoses, testing or care of individuals with possible or actual cases of COVID-19 after January 31, 2020, including such providers who were largely left out of the initial $30 billion disbursement. The initial $30 billion was allocated based on the providers’ 2019 Medicare fee for services payments. The next $20 billion will also reach providers who receive only a small amount of Medicare revenue, e.g., children’s hospitals. The $20 billion will be allocated so that the combined $50 billion in payments reflects the providers’ 2018 net patient revenue.
April 23, 2020
Overview of the COVID-19 Telehealth Program
By Cory Talbot
As part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act, Congress appropriated $200 million in funding for the COVID-19 Telehealth Program (the “Program”). The Program, administered through the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”), is designed to help health care providers deliver connected care services to patients at their homes or mobile locations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The FCC began accepting applications for the Program earlier this month.
What is the Program?
The Program will distribute emergency funding to health care providers to increase telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The FCC indicates that the Program will support participating health care providers “by fully funding their telecommunications services, information services, and devices necessary to provide critical connected care services” during the COVID-19 pandemic.1 Funds can be used to cover eligible equipment or services purchased on or after March 13, 2020, including services with monthly recurring charges, such as broadband connectivity or remote patient monitoring devices, through September 30, 2020. The FCC has set an award ceiling of $1 million per applicant. Continue reading
March 20, 2020
Telehealth and COVID-19
By Kim Stanger
Federal Action. To promote the use of telehealth in response to Coronavirus, the federal government took several significant steps this week:
- Medicare dramatically expanded the telehealth services for which it will pay.
- HHS suspended HIPAA security rule requirements that may have otherwise limited the technology used for telehealth visits. As a result, providers are free to use non-public facing applications such as FaceTime, Skype, Facebook Messenger, Google Hangouts, etc., to conduct telehealth visits. They should not use public-facing applications such as Facebook Live, Twitch, TikTok, etc.
- HHS suspended the HIPAA rule that would require the distribution of a Notice of Privacy Practices at the time of service.
- The DEA now allows registered practitioners to issue prescriptions for all schedule II-V controlled substances to patients for whom they have not conducted an in-person medical evaluation, provided all of the following conditions are met: (i) the prescription is issued for a legitimate medical purpose by a practitioner acting in the usual course of his/her professional practice; (ii) the telemedicine communication is conducted using an audio-visual, real-time, two-way interactive communication system; and (iii) the practitioner is acting in accordance with applicable federal and state laws.
State Action. Importantly, the federal actions do not remove state law limits on telehealth. Many states impose licensure, technology, consent, or other procedural requirements. Unless waived by state agencies, these state laws must also be considered before launching telehealth services. Continue reading
February 12, 2019
Telehealth: Practicing Across the Idaho Border
by Kim Stanger
More healthcare practitioners are using telehealth to render patient care or expand their practices. When telehealth crosses state borders, the practitioner must ensure that he or she is licensed in or otherwise authorized to practice medicine in the state where the patient resides. The Model Policy issued by the Federation of State Medical Boards states:
A physician must be licensed, or under the jurisdiction, of the medical board of the state where the patient is located. The practice of medicine occurs where the patient is located at the time telemedicine technologies are used. Physicians who treat or prescribe through online services sites are practicing medicine and must possess appropriate licensure in all jurisdictions where patients receive care.
(Model Policy for the Appropriate Use of Telemedicine Technologies in the Practice of Medicine (2014), available here).
Continue reading