South Central Region – Legislative Update for January 2017

State

Bill #

Status

Summary

Arkansas

SB
146

1/19/17: Introduced and referred to Senate Committee on Public
Health, Welfare and Labor

This bill would create the Telemedicine Act; amend the definition of
telemedicine and originating site; addresses requirements of a professional
relationship when using telemedicine; adds standards for the appropriate use
of telemedicine; address insurance coverage of telemedicine; and for other
purposes.

Arkansas

SB
78

1/9/2017: Introduced and referred to Senate Committee on Public
Health, Welfare and Labor

Requires the AR State Medical Board to perform an analysis of the
Interstate Medical Licensure Compact to determine whether the state of
Arkansas should participate.

Mississippi

HB 1093

1/18/17: Introduced and referred to House Committee on Medicaid and
House Committee on Revenue and Expenditure General Bills

Requires the Director of Medicaid to apply to CMS for any waivers for
the approval of experimental, pilot or demonstration projects that promote
the objectives of providing services to eligible individuals.  The waiver
should, among other items, authorize the state to more extensively
incorporate and encourage telemedicine options.

Mississippi

HB
555

1/25/17: Transmitted to Senate

Makes minor amendments to the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact
language.

Mississippi

HB
861

1/13/17: Introduced and referred to House Committee on Insurance

Requires State and School Employees Health Insurance Management Board
to establish a pilot program for urgent health care services using a
telemedicine kiosk model managed by the University of Mississippi Medical
Center.

Mississippi

HB 96

1/3/2017: Introduced and referred to House Committee on Medicaid

Allows testing required under the Medicaid program, Children’s Health
Insurance program and State and School Employees health Insurance Plan for
illegal drugs, alcohol, hepatitis B and C, TB and sexually transmitted
diseases to be covered when delivered through telemedicine.

Tennessee

SB 195

1/30/17: Introduced

Relates to health care; adds healthcare services provided to a
patient at a public elementary or secondary school to the current definition
of telehealth services for which health insurance entities are required to
reimburse in a manner that is consistent with reimbursement for in-person
encounters.

State

Reg. Citation

Status

Summary

Arkansas

060.00.16

4/27/16: Proposed rule

Comment Deadline: 6/9/16

Title: Regulation 38

Agency: Medical Board

Establishes rule pertaining to telemedicine and the requirement for
all services provided by physicians.

Arkansas

007.05.16

6/9/16: Proposed

Comment Deadline: 7/26/16

Title: Abortion Facilities

Agency: health Facility Services

This bill would prohibit drug induced, chemical and surgical
abortions be performed by telemedicine.

Arkansas

016.06.16

6/24/16:  Proposed

Comment Deadline: 7/26/16

Title:  Rehabilitative Services for Persons with Mental Illness

Agency: Division of Medical Services

This rule would provide billing information for billing for
rehabilitative services delivered through telemedicine, among other components.

Arkansas

016.06.16

11/28/16: Proposed rule

Comment Deadline: 12/30/16

Title: Telemedicine Policy

Agency: Department of Human Services, Division of Medical Services

Amends rules to update the Telemedicine policy to provide
clarification of interactive audio and visual transmission of the physician
patient encounter.

Mississippi

Part 2615, Ch. 1

11/21/16: Proposed

Comment Deadline: 12/16/2016

Title: Practice of Physician Assistants

Agency: Board of Medical Licensure

The rule specifies that a physician assistant may work in an
emergency room without immediate supervision granted that the physician
assistant has a Board approved telemedicine arrangement.  However, the
primary and/or backup supervising physician must be within 10 minutes of the
physician assistant while he or she is seeing patients in the emergency room.

Mississippi

Part
2635

1/13/17: Proposed rule

Comment Deadline: 2/7/17

Title: Practice of Medicine

Agency: Board of Medical Licensure

Amends MS policy regarding out of state physicians, eliminating the
exception that when evaluation, treatment and or/medicine by a physician
outside of MS is requested by a physician licensed in MS, and that physician
has already established a doctor/physician relationship with the patient,
that a MS license is not required by the out of state provider.  Adds that
the interpretation of clinical laboratory studies as well as pathology and
histopathology studies performed by physicians without Mississippi licensure
is not the practice of telemedicine provided a Mississippi licensed physician
is responsible for accepting, rejecting, or modifying the interpretation. The
Mississippi licensed physician must maintain exclusive control over any
subsequent therapy or additional diagnostics.

State

Bill #

Status

Summary

Arkansas

060.00.16

Status: 12/15/16

Effective: 12/25/16

Title:  Regulation 38: Telemedicine

Agency: AR Medical Board

Amends rule concerning telemedicine to establish a requirement for
physicians to provide services.  Specifically, it eliminates the section of
the rule which states that a telemedicine vendor of a patient completing a
medical history online and forwarding it to a physician does not qualify as
store and forward technology.