The Texas Medical Board's recent decision to limit the practice of telemedicine runs counter to the national trend. Most states are seeking to expand their use of such services to increase healthcare access and reduce costs. Many observers predict the Texas rule will have little effect on the growth of telemedicine nationwide.
The Texas board, with the support of the Texas Medical Association, voted to finalize rules effective in June requiring Texas physicians to have an in-person visit with a patient before they can provide healthcare services through telecommunication technologies.
The state's medical association, in a letter to the medical board, said safeguards were needed “to protect patients and ensure telemedicine complements the efforts of local healthcare providers.”
But critics say the rule will hurt healthcare access in a state that already has the country's highest uninsured rate, and many rural areas with provider shortages. “We feel like it's going to be really negative for consumers,” said Krista Drobac, executive director of the Alliance for Connected Care, a Washington-based lobbying group for the growing telehealth industry.
Under the new rule, Texas physicians could use telemedicine when treating patients for the first time if the patient is already at a medical setting, such as a hospital or clinic, and another healthcare provider is with them to assist. Behavioral healthcare providers are exempt from the restrictions. The restrictions focus on defining how the relationship between provider and patient is established. The board rule says such a relationship cannot be established through “e-mail, electronic text, or chat or telephonic evaluation of or consultation with a patient.”
