With the industry set to face "an explosion of opportunities" over the next year or so, the American Telemedicine Association is gathering in the nation's capital this week for its annual Federal Telemedicine Policy Summit.
Speaking during the ATA's monthly videocast on Tuesday, ATA CEO Jonathan Linkous and Gary Capistrant, the organization's senior director of public policy, said the two-day conference will touch on a wide range of importance issues, from state legislative efforts to enact telehealth bills to federal funding and cybersecurity initiatives to the Food and Drug Administration's long-awaited final guidance on mobile medical apps.
'It's a new day," Linkous said. "I think it's clear that (the healthcare industry) sees that telemedicine is the way it's going to be."
Three Congressional leaders are scheduled to appear at the conference. Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., will talk on Thursday about expanding provider outreach and increasing patient access through licensure reform. Thompson in 2011 introduced the Service Members Telemedicine & E-Health Portability (STEP) Act, which allowed the Department of Defense to enable credentialed healthcare professionals to treat veterans across state lines without the need for additional licenses, and this year he co-0authored the Veterans E-Health and Telemedicine Support (VETS) Act, which provides a similar exemption for VA healthcare providers.
On Friday, Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., author of the landmark Telehealth Promotion Act of 2012, will talk about congressional support for telemedicine. He'll be followed by Rep. Gregg Harper, R-Miss., who will talk about his efforts to draft legislation in his state to expand the use of telemedicine to Medicare and Medicaid patients.
"The idea is to create a package that Republicans and Democrats, that congressmen and senators can line up and support," said Capistrant, who further noted that Virginia, Washington D.C. and Missouri are at various stages of increasing telemedicine access for residents.
Government officials scheduled to appear at the conference include Trent Harkrader of the Federal Communications Commission, who will discuss the FCC's Healthcare Connect Fund; FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, who will talk about FCC broadband investments for healthcare; Adam Darkins, the VA's chief consultant for telehealth services, who will talk about VA telehealth programs; and Mary Wakefield, administrator of the Health and Human Services Department's Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), who will join Linkous and Capistrant to give an overall view of healthcare reform, including key provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that could soon pave the way for telemedicine expansion.
Linkous said the ACA's October 1 deadline for states to launch health insurance exchanges could offer new business for telemedicine providers, as could the Jan. 1, 2014 deadline that could add 20 million people to the nation's Medicaid rolls.
"No one really knows what that's going to be like," he pointed out.
In a Friday morning session that's sure to generate interest, Jeffrey Shuren, director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health, will offer an update on the FDA's efforts to regulate telemedicine and mobile medical apps. Industry leaders are pressing the FDA to release its final guidance on mobile medical apps, which has been almost two years in planning, saying a lack of clear guidance is hindering innovation and curbing investment.
"It's possible that guidance could come out in a month or so," Capistrant said.
The summit will open at 1 p.m. Thursday at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill with an introduction by ATA President Ed Brown, CEO of the Ontario Telemedicine Network, and run through noon Friday. The conference will not be live-streamed or recorded.
