Florida Senate - 2015                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 478
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì813832#Î813832                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  02/17/2015           .                                
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
       —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————




       —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
       The Committee on Health Policy (Bean) recommended the following:
       
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Section 456.4501, Florida Statutes, is created
    6  to read:
    7         456.4501 Use of telehealth to provide services.—
    8         (1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:
    9         (a) “Telehealth” means the use of synchronous or
   10  asynchronous telecommunications technology by a telehealth
   11  provider to provide health care services, including, but not
   12  limited to, patient assessment, diagnosis, consultation,
   13  treatment, and monitoring; the transfer of medical data; patient
   14  and professional health-related education; public health
   15  services; and health care administration. The term does not
   16  include audio-only transmissions, e-mail messages, facsimile
   17  transmissions, or consultations between a telehealth provider in
   18  this state and a provider lawfully licensed in another state
   19  when the provider licensed in this state maintains
   20  responsibility for the care of a patient in this state.
   21         (b) “Telehealth provider” means any person who provides
   22  health care and related services using telehealth and who is
   23  licensed under chapter 457; chapter 458; chapter 459; chapter
   24  460; chapter 461; chapter 463; chapter 464; chapter 465; chapter
   25  466; chapter 467; part I, part III, part IV, part V, part X,
   26  part XIII, or part XIV of chapter 468; chapter 478; chapter 480;
   27  parts III and IV of chapter 483; chapter 484; chapter 486;
   28  chapter 490; or chapter 491, or who is certified under part III
   29  of chapter 401.
   30         (2) PRACTICE STANDARDS.—
   31         (a) The standard of care for a telehealth provider
   32  providing medical care to a patient is the same as the standard
   33  of care generally accepted for a health care professional
   34  providing in-person health care services to a patient. If a
   35  telehealth provider conducts a patient evaluation sufficient to
   36  diagnose and treat the patient, the telehealth provider is not
   37  required to research the patient’s medical history or conduct a
   38  physical examination of the patient before using telehealth to
   39  provide services to the patient. A telehealth provider may use
   40  telehealth to perform a patient evaluation.
   41         (b) A telehealth provider and a patient may be in separate
   42  locations when telehealth is used to provide health care
   43  services to the patient.
   44         (c) A nonphysician telehealth provider using telehealth and
   45  acting within the relevant scope of practice is not deemed to be
   46  practicing medicine without a license under any provision of law
   47  listed in paragraph (1)(b).
   48         (d) A telehealth provider who is otherwise authorized to
   49  prescribe a controlled substance named or described in Schedules
   50  I through V of s. 893.03 may use telehealth to prescribe the
   51  controlled substance, except that telehealth may not be used to
   52  prescribe a controlled substance to treat chronic nonmalignant
   53  pain as defined in s. 458.3265. This paragraph does not preclude
   54  a physician from using telehealth to order a controlled
   55  substance for an inpatient admitted to a facility licensed under
   56  chapter 395 or a hospice patient under chapter 400.
   57         (3) RECORDS.—A telehealth provider shall document in the
   58  patient’s medical record the health care services rendered using
   59  telehealth according to the same standard used for in-person
   60  health care services pursuant to ss. 395.3025(4) and 456.057.
   61         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2015.
   62  
   63  
   64  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   65  And the title is amended as follows:
   66         Delete everything before the enacting clause
   67  and insert:
   68                        A bill to be entitled                      
   69         An act relating to telehealth; creating s. 456.4501,
   70         F.S.; defining the terms “telehealth” and “telehealth
   71         provider”; providing for certain practice standards
   72         for telehealth providers; authorizing telehealth
   73         providers to use telehealth for prescribing controlled
   74         substances, with an exception; providing for the
   75         maintenance and confidentiality of medical records;
   76         providing an effective date.