SB 380

This bill requires the Department of Health Services to provide reimbursement

under the Medical Assistance program for any benefit that is covered under the

Medical Assistance program, delivered by a certified Medical Assistance program,

and provided through interactive telehealth. DHS must pay for such a service

provided by a certified provider of Medical Assistance at a distant site an amount

equal to the amount the certified provider would receive under the Medical

Assistance program if the service were provided through a method other than

telehealth. The bill also requires DHS to provide as a benefit under the Medical

Assistance program and provide reimbursement under the Medical Assistance

program for all of the following: a consultation conducted through interactive

telehealth between a certified provider and a Medical Assistance recipient's

provider; remote patient monitoring of a Medical Assistance recipient; asynchronous

telehealth service, also known as store-and-forward; a service provided through

communication technology that is covered under the federal Medicare program; and

any other telehealth service specified by DHS by rule. DHS may exclude services by

rule from Medical Assistance reimbursement and may provide reimbursement by

rule for certain services that are not typically considered telehealth services.

The bill defines “telehealth” as a practice of health care delivery, diagnosis,

consultation, treatment, or transfer of medically relevant data by means of audio,

video, or data communications that are used either during a patient visit or a

consultation or are used to transfer medically relevant data about a patient.

“Telehealth” generally does not include communications delivered solely by

audio-only telephone, facsimile machine, or electronic mail unless the department

specifies otherwise by rule. Under the bill, “interactive telehealth” is telehealth

delivered using multimedia communication technology that permits 2-way,

real-time, interactive communications between a provider at a distant site and the

Medical Assistance recipient or the recipient's provider. “Remote patient

monitoring” is telehealth in which a patient's medical data is transmitted to a

provider for monitoring and response if necessary. “Asynchronous telehealth

service” is telehealth that is used to transmit medical data about a patient to a

provider when the transmission is not a 2-way, real-time, interactive

communication.

Under the bill, DHS is prohibited from requiring a certified provider of Medical

Assistance that provides a reimbursable service under the bill to obtain an additional

certification or meet additional requirements solely because the service was

delivered through telehealth, except that DHS may require, by rule, that the

transmission of information through telehealth be of sufficient quality to be

functionally equivalent to face-to-face contact. DHS may apply any requirement

that is applicable to a covered service that is not provided through telehealth to any

service provided through telehealth under the bill. The bill prohibits DHS from