Click the image see this month’s rural health digest for Tennessee.

The post Rural Health Assn. of TN Newsletter appeared first on LearnTelehealth.

The post Arkansas Telemedicine Practice Rules appeared first on LearnTelehealth.

Exciting developments this month in the AR/MS/TN region include the passage of additional allowable fees for Rural Health Clinics (RHC) and Federally Qualified Health Clinics (FQHC). Take a look at what is approved, pending, and denied.

Approved Legislation

Dead Legislation/Session Ended

REGULATION

Pending Regulation

Adopted Rules

The post December Legislative update appeared first on LearnTelehealth.

Pending legislation and regulation webpage

Approved Legislation

Dead Legislation / Session Ended

Pending Regulation

Adopted Rules

The post SCTRC Legislative Update from Center for Connected Health Policy appeared first on LearnTelehealth.

At the South Central Telehealth Resource Center, we are thrilled to introduce a new staff member, Kimberly McKee. Our new go-getter has degrees in English, Writing and Mass Communications. She has a Master of Science in Instructional Technologies with an Emphasis in Distance Education, and several hours in the Master of Arts in Teaching program. She has experience in curriculum development, online educational system management, and instructional design. She’s quite close to her goal of becoming a CAPM through the Project Management Institute.

Kimberly is not only highly educated and experienced in her field, her real passion is working with people and telling their stories. She immediately found a home in our team due to her desire to make a positive impact for anyone over a distance. She believes everyone deserves the opportunity to receive an education and quality healthcare regardless of where they live.

Blessed with three children and two grandchildren, she enjoys spending her weekends with friends and family, attending rock concerts, creating pallet art masterpieces and riding motorcycles. Kimberly will be a prominent face of SCTRC outreach and we look forward to introducing her to you soon.

The post A New Face at SCTRC appeared first on LearnTelehealth.

This bill would authorize reimbursement and regulation of services provided through telemedicine, among other things. Arkansas SB 678 3/24/15: Enacted This bill appropriates funds towards electronic health records and telehealth services grants. Tennessee HB 699 4/24/15: Signed by Governor. This bill clarifies certain standards related to a telehealth encounter, including consent, a provider-patient relations, licensing, and the definition of telehealth. Tennessee SB 1223 4/30/15: Chaptered. This bill relates to Physicians and Surgeons; establishes requirements and protections for healthcare providers that practice telehealth.

Source: Center for Connected Health

The post Legislative Update – August 2015 appeared first on LearnTelehealth.

The following is a list of legislative activities for telehealth and telemedicine within the South Central region (AR, MS and TN).  A special thanks goes to the Center for Connected Health policy for providing this information. You may visit their webpage by clicking the following link:  http://telehealthpolicy.us/laws/pending/state

Approved Legislation

Pending Regulation

Dead Legisltation

The post Legislative Update appeared first on LearnTelehealth.

The fall CTeL symposium will be in Boston this year in late October. If you have an abstract to share, click the link below to submit:

http://symposium.connectedhealth.org/poster-session

If you would like to attend the symposium, please click the link below:

http://symposium.connectedhealth.org/about-connected-health-symposium

The post CTeL Symposium October 29-30 appeared first on LearnTelehealth.

The new law goes into effect immediately; however, the parity provisions (Subchapter 16 of Arkansas Act 887) do not go into effect until on and after July 1, 2016 for Arkansas Medicaid and on and after January 1, 2016 for all other health benefit plans.

Here’s what the new law will mean to you:

• This is a new provision that affects the healthcare coverage for all medical professions when using telemedicine. All discipline-respective medical board terms on credentialing, licensing, practice, and other policies and recommendations apply.
• The new law requires health plans to cover telemedicine-provided physician services and reimburse physicians only on the same basis as in-person services.
• Physicians licensed by the board for healthcare services will be reimbursed by health benefit plans on the same basis as delivering such reimbursable care in person.
• Billing codes and protocol will be contingent upon each health plan’s policy and prescribed procedures; please consult each health plan to determine how to approach reimbursement.
• A patient must be located in a health provider’s office or other health care facility. The home is only permitted when the patient is receiving treatment for end-stage renal disease.
• Provider-patient relationships must be established according to the Arkansas State Medical Board rules before a telemedicine encounter except in emergencies or when providing non-patient-specific information of a generic nature.
• The definition of telemedicine is real-time audio-video when the patient is at an originating site and the provider is at a distant site; i.e. store and forward is not considered telemedicine under this legislation.
• Although the law does not create new requirements for patient informed consent, a provider must follow applicable state/federal laws related to informed consent, HIPAA, medical records and confidentiality, and fraud/waste/abuse.
• A provider must be fully licensed or certified to practice in Arkansas to treat patients who are located in Arkansas. Exemptions to this licensure/certification requirement include episodic consultation services.

The full details of the law can be found at https://legiscan.com/AR/bill/SB133/2015

Considerations prior to telemedicine engagement:

• Ensure your telemedicine network is HIPAA compliant.
• Ensure your telemedicine network provides reliable connections with sufficient bandwidth to support real-time interaction between the originating and distant sites to ensure the best quality of care.
• Arkansas e-Link is an existing statewide telemedicine network with nearly 400 member sites. For more information about Arkansas e-Link, please visit http://arkansaselink.com/
• The South Central Telehealth Resource Center (SCTRC) offers telemedicine training, expertise, and advice to providers and leaders in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee. For more information about the SCTRC, please visit https://learntelehealth.org/ or call 1-855-664-3450.
• The Center for Distance Health encourages new telemedicine users to take the online course “Telehealth 101” to learn more about telemedicine. To take “Telehealth 101,” please visit https://learntelehealth.org/courses/an-introduction-to-telehealth/overview-of-telehealth/

This fact sheet is brought to you by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ Center for Distance Health. Information in this sheet is based on Arkansas SB-133 https://legiscan.com/AR/bill/SB133/2015 and the American Telemedicine Association’s Legislative Fact Sheet http://www.americantelemed.org/news-landing/2015/04/08/arkansas-lawmakers-pass-telemedicine-payment-bill#.VSWIVpOVkb8.

The post New Arkansas Telemedicine Law – Fact Sheet appeared first on LearnTelehealth.

http://www.americantelemed.org/news-landing/2015/04/08/arkansas-lawmakers-pass-telemedicine-payment-bill#.VSWIVpOVkb8.

The post Legislative Fact Sheet – AR Telemedicine Law appeared first on LearnTelehealth.