§432D‑23.5  Coverage for telehealth. (a)  It is the intent of the legislature to recognize the application oftelehealth as a reimbursable service by which an individual shall receivemedical services from a health care provider without face-to-face contact withthe provider.

(b)  No health maintenance organization planthat is issued, amended, or renewed shall require face-to-face contact betweena health care provider and a patient as a prerequisite for payment for servicesappropriately provided through telehealth in accordance with generally acceptedhealth care practices and standards prevailing in the applicable professionalcommunity at the time the services were provided.  The coverage required inthis section may be subject to all terms and conditions of the plan agreed uponamong the enrollee or subscriber, the health maintenance organization, and theprovider.

(c)  There shall be no reimbursement for atelehealth consultation between health care providers unless an existing healthcare provider-patient relationship exists between the patient and one of thehealth care providers involved in the telehealth interaction.

For the purposes of this section, "healthcare provider" means a provider of services, as defined in 42 U.S.C.1395x(u), a provider of medical or other health services, as defined in 42U.S.C. 1395x(s), and any other person or organization who furnishes, bills, oris paid for health care in the normal course of business.

(d)  Notwithstanding chapter 453 or rulesadopted pursuant thereto, in the event that a health care provider-patientrelationship does not exist between the patient and the health care providerinvolved in a telehealth interaction between the patient and the health careprovider, a telehealth mechanism may be used to establish a health careprovider-patient relationship.

(e)  For the purposes of this section,"telehealth" means the use of telecommunications services, as definedin section 269‑1, including but not limited to real-time videoconferencing-based communication, secure interactive and non‑interactiveweb-based communication, and secure asynchronous information exchange, totransmit patient medical information, including diagnostic-quality digitalimages and laboratory results for medical interpretation and diagnosis, for thepurpose of delivering enhanced health care services and information to partiesseparated by distance.  Standard telephone contacts, facsimile transmissions,or email text, in combination or by itself, does not constitute a telehealth servicefor the purposes of this chapter. [L 1998, c 278, §4; am L 2006, c 219, §4; amL 2009, c 20, §5]

 

Note

 

  L 1998, c 278, §5 provides:

  "SECTION 5.  Nothing in this Act shall preclude anyhealth professional, within the scope of the health professional's practice,from employing the technology of telehealth within the health professional'spractice.  Such action shall not be interpreted as practicing medicine withouta license."

 

Cross References

 

  Practice of telemedicine, see §453-1.3