Florida Senate - 2013 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 898
Barcode 159956
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: FAV .
04/03/2013 .
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The Committee on Health Policy (Joyner) recommended the
following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete everything after the enacting clause
4 and insert:
5 Section 1. Telemedicine services.—
6 (1) As used in this section, the term “telemedicine
7 services,” as it pertains to the delivery of health care
8 services, means synchronous video conferencing, remote patient
9 monitoring, asynchronous health images, or other health
10 transmissions supported by mobile devices, such as mHealth, or
11 other telecommunications technology used for the purpose of
12 diagnosis, consultation, treatment, transfer of medical data, or
13 exchange of medical education information by means of audio,
14 video, or data communications. The term does not include an
15 audio-only telephone call, e-mail message, or facsimile
16 transmission.
17 (2) On or after January 1, 2014, a health insurance policy
18 that is issued, amended, or renewed may not require face-to-face
19 contact between a health care provider and a patient as a
20 prerequisite for payment for services appropriately provided
21 through telemedicine in accordance with generally accepted
22 health care practices and standards prevailing in the applicable
23 professional community at the time the services are provided.
24 This requirement is subject to all terms and conditions
25 negotiated between the provider and the health insurer or health
26 plan. Medicaid services provided through fee-for-service or a
27 managed care delivery system may not be denied as a creditable
28 Medicaid service on the basis that the coverage is provided
29 through telemedicine. Health care services covered through in
30 person consultations or through telemedicine shall be treated as
31 equivalent services from an insurance coverage and payment
32 perspective.
33 (3) This section does not prevent a health insurer or
34 health plan from imposing deductibles or copayment or
35 coinsurance requirements for a health care service provided
36 through telemedicine if the deductible, copayment, or
37 coinsurance does not exceed the deductible, copayment, or
38 coinsurance applicable to an in-person consultation for the same
39 health care service.
40 (4) This section does not preclude a licensed health care
41 practitioner, as defined in s. 456.001, Florida Statutes, who is
42 acting within the scope of his or her practice from employing
43 the technology of telemedicine, applying telemedicine within his
44 or her practice, or using telemedicine technology under the
45 direction and supervision of another health care practitioner
46 who is using telemedicine technology within the supervising
47 practitioner’s scope of practice. When acting under the
48 direction and supervision of another health care practitioner,
49 the use of telemedicine technology may not be interpreted as
50 practicing medicine without a license. However, any health care
51 practitioner employing telemedicine technology must be trained,
52 educated, and knowledgeable about the procedure and technology
53 and may not perform duties for which the practitioner does not
54 have sufficient training, education, or knowledge. Failure to
55 have adequate training, education, and knowledge is grounds for
56 disciplinary action by the board, or the department if there is
57 no board.
58 (5) The Department of Health, in consultation with those
59 boards within the department which exercise regulatory or
60 rulemaking functions relating to health care practitioners as
61 defined in s. 456.001, Florida Statutes, may adopt rules, as
62 necessary, to implement the requirements of this section
63 relating to the provision of telemedicine services by such
64 practitioners, and shall repeal any rules that prohibit the use
65 of telemedicine in this state.
66 Section 2. The Department of Health shall lead and conduct
67 an interagency study, which also includes the Department of
68 Children and Families and the Agency for Health Care
69 Administration, on options for implementing telemedicine
70 services and coverage, including multipayer coverage and
71 reimbursement, for stroke diagnosis, high-risk pregnancies,
72 premature births, mental health services, and emergency
73 services. The Department of Health shall submit a final report
74 of its findings and recommendations to the President of the
75 Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives by July
76 1, 2014.
77 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2013.
78
79 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
80 And the title is amended as follows:
81 Delete everything before the enacting clause
82 and insert:
83 A bill to be entitled
84 An act relating to telemedicine; defining the term
85 “telemedicine”; providing that a health insurance
86 policy or Medicaid may not require face-to-face
87 contact between a health care provider and patient as
88 a prerequisite to coverage or reimbursement for
89 services; clarifying that the use of telemedicine
90 technology under the supervision of another health
91 care practitioner may not be interpreted as practicing
92 medicine without a license; authorizing the Department
93 of Health to adopt rules and to repeal any rules that
94 prohibit the use of telemedicine; requiring the
95 department to conduct a study, which includes the
96 Department of Children and Families and the Agency for
97 Health Care Administration, on options for
98 implementing telemedicine for certain services;
99 requiring the Department of Health to submit a report
100 to the Legislature; providing an effective date.
101
102 WHEREAS, telemedicine services are those services that use
103 electronic technology to overcome a geographic distance between
104 patients and health care providers for the purposes of
105 assessing, monitoring, intervening, clinical managing, or
106 educating patients, and
107 WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes the demonstrated cost
108 effectiveness, improvements in disease management, and improved
109 patient outcomes that result from the provision of telemedicine
110 services, and that studies have demonstrated significant
111 reductions in hospitalizations and otherwise necessary medical
112 care as a result of telemedicine intervention, and
113 WHEREAS, geography, weather, availability to specialists,
114 transportation, and other factors can create barriers to
115 accessing appropriate health and mental health care, and that
116 one way to provide, ensure, or enhance access to care given
117 these barriers is through the appropriate use of technology to
118 allow health care consumers access to qualified health care
119 providers, and
120 WHEREAS, the Legislature seeks to embrace efforts that will
121 encourage health insurers and health providers to support the
122 use of telemedicine and that will also encourage all state
123 agencies to evaluate and amend their policies and rules to
124 remove any regulatory barriers prohibiting the use of
125 telemedicine, NOW THEREFORE,