House lawmakers have proposed a bill that would tap into the power of telehealth to connect clinicians with patients in underserved areas.
The “Telehealth Enhancement Act of 2013” calls for Medicare home health payments to account for remote patient monitoring and expands coverage to all critical access and sole community hospitals, regardless of metropolitan status. The package also covers home-based video services for hospice care, home dialysis and homebound beneficiaries.
“These efforts began with a conversation about physician shortages and concerns with patients’ access to quality and affordable healthcare,” Rep. Gregg Harper (R-Miss.) said in a statement.
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“Until we are able to attract more physicians to rural communities and tighten the access gap,” the bill's authors said in a statement, “the next best alternative is to use technology to connect health professionals with underserved populations – rural and urban – through telehealth networks.”
Under the bill, states will also have the option of setting up high-risk pregnancy networks within their Medicaid programs. This model centers on the success of state programs, notably Arkansas ANGELS, to use telehealth for the coordination and improvement of at-risk births and neonatal care.
American Telemedicine Association CEO Jonathan Linkous said the ATA supports the legislation for moving aside government restrictions to improve patient access to clinicians.
The ATA said the bill would:
- Add incentives for fewer Medicare hospital readmissions;
- Create new Medicaid optional packages for high-risk pregnancy and birth networks;
- Cover telehealth services under Medicare payment bundles for post-acute care;
- Allow Medicare accountable care organizations to use telehealth like Medicare managed care plans; and
- Facilitate Medicare home-based kidney dialysis.
“Studies have shown that telehealth can improve access, reduce costs and improve the quality of healthcare,” Linkous said in a press release. “To unlock this potential, we need to give health providers the ability to use this technology wherever appropriate (to) allow patients access to health services wherever they are located. Instead of going to the doctor, it allows the doctor to go to the patient.”
The bill, H.R. 3306, has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the House Committee on Ways and Means. The Telehealth Act was introduced on October 23 by Harper and Reps. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.).
“Our aim is to complement states that are pioneering telemedicine across the country,” they said in a statement. “We hope to help states lower health costs by encouraging people to adopt healthier lifestyles as well as reducing avoidable hospital visits.”
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The connected patient: delivering on the promise of accountable care
