“The Veterans Affairs Department proposed a rule Friday that would allow VA providers anywhere in the country to conduct telehealth visits with VA patients across state borders, regardless of state licensing,” Rachel Arndt reports for Modern Healthcare.
Expanding telemedicine services would help veterans in rural areas, who are often too far away from brick and mortar facilities to receive adequate care. Of the 702,000 patients VA providers saw via telemedicine in the fiscal year of 2016, almost half lived in rural areas.
But in order to expand telehealth access, doctors would need to be able to see patients across state lines. Because of current state restrictions, that's not easy. A doctor could lose his or her credentials or be fined for treating patients via telemedicine who live in a state where that doctor isn't licensed to practice. The VA's proposed federal rule would get quicker results than waiting for every state to withdraw the penalties separately. And though such a rule would only apply to VA providers and patients, it could pave the way for a national medical practice licensing concept.
“The rule would complement the VA's push to increase the use of technology in veterans' healthcare, an effort VA Secretary Dr. David Shulkin called ‘anywhere to anywhere VA health care’ when President Donald Trump announced the initiative in August,” Arndt reports.
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