While the Congressional GOP has good intentions to restore more health freedom at the state level, they have so far failed to reach a consensus. Meanwhile, market forces and the states are already working to make health care access more convenient, price transparent, and affordable.
Telemedicine, for example, is a multibillion dollar industry and a leading innovation in the health care arena. Defined as “the use of technology to deliver health care, health information, or health education at a distance,” telemedicine helps people connect more quickly to their primary, specialty, and tertiary medical needs. Patients can submit questions about non-urgent health issues and receive responses from a distant medical provider within hours without having to sacrifice quality of care. Online vision testscan be just as accurate as an in-person optometrist appointment, and renowned Centers of Excellence are partnering with rural hospitals to assist in monitoring their intensive care units (ICUs).
In spite of whatever Congress does or doesn’t do, telemedicine continues to reach and care for more patients. And states are finding solutions to advance the industry’s footprint even further. In 2014, the North Carolina Medical Board revised its position on telemedicine so that physicians could prescribe medications to a patient virtually without being required to conduct an initial in-person exam. This past week, Governor Roy Cooper signed off on pivotal legislation that will allow nurses to obtain a single, multi-state license so they can deliver telehealth to out-of-state patients. The Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, sponsored by the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB), is also working to expand telehealth by expediting the process for physicians to become licensed in Compact states.
All of these initiatives are enabling telemedicine to spread scarce resources to patients in both underserved and urban areas. As telemedicine continues to evolve, it’s inevitable that there will be more laws regulating the booming industry. Hopefully reason will prevail and governments at every level will do everything they can to let this market run unfettered.
Read my latest in Forbes here.
