Establish national telehealth definition, standards, new report argues

A new report from a not-for-profit organization that promotes healthcare technology and innovation is calling for a national definition of telehealth and national standards that will foster its growth.

The report comes only weeks after the Federation of State Medical Boards sought to establish its own model telehealth policy that state boards could emulate. That model policy ignited controversy because it emphasizes the use of video technology over telephone-based services.

The new foundation's report outlines what it calls the benefits of telehealth including lowering costs and providing health services to rural populations.

“Successful adoption of telehealth will require a number of regulatory and policy changes,” the Washington, D.C.-based Information Technology and Innovation Foundation says in a report, “Unlocking the Potential of Physician-to-Patient Telehealth Services.”

“Within the past five years, a combination of advancements in information technology (IT), including electronic health records, high-definition videoconferencing, remote patient monitoring, mobile devices and networks, and ubiquitous broadband networks, has created an opportunity to leverage telehealth services to improve our national health care system,” according to the foundation's report.

But “the regulatory and policy environment has not kept pace with the technology, and several barriers must be overcome before patients and doctors in the United States can fully enjoy the benefits of telehealth,” the report states.

In calling on Congress to establish national standard definitions for telehealth and a uniform national license for telehealth, the report is sure to become controversial in its own right. Such measures would pre-empt decisions now being made at the state level.

The foundation, which calls itself a non-partisan think tank, has as its stated mission to “to formulate and promote public policies to advance technological innovation and productivity internationally, in Washington, and in the states.”

Follow John N. Frank on Twitter: @MHJFrank