Guest Commentary: The feds hold the key to telehealth's untapped potential

Technology is completely transforming our society. In just the past 10 years, we have advanced from flip phones to smart homes. You can now use an app to remotely monitor your thermostat or watch someone as they ring your doorbell.

Technology is not only being used to make life easier, it's also saving countless lives.

The concept behind telehealth has been around for decades, but the technology that makes it possible is advancing rapidly. The opportunities to provide greater access and quality care to people in the setting that they choose are growing constantly. Assessment, consultation, treatment management and education between provider and patients are all now possible without the two being in the same room or even the same state.

Hospitals in both rural and urban settings are investing in telehealth technologies because they appreciate the benefit to patients, ultimately helping to address inequities in access to care, containment of healthcare cost growth and enhancement of quality.

Real-world examples are growing every day.

When appropriate, a provider visit via live video is just as effective as an in-person visit. This is especially helpful in rural areas where patients may live several hours away from practices or in portions of the country where there are shortages of specialty physicians, for example in the behavioral health field.

Remote patient monitoring allows physicians to check in with someone once they are released from the hospital, potentially avoiding preventable readmissions and secondary conditions. And new and inventive ways of using our ubiquitous mobile devices are harnessing the power of apps or even text messages to promote healthy behaviors.

Telehealth is clinically proven, creates convenience and access for patients and is vital to the clinical care integration that will improve quality and help curb cost growth.

Unfortunately, patients are not able to take advantage of the full range of these technological advances because the federal government hasn't kept pace. Steps taken over the years by Congress and government agencies have cracked the door to innovation, but open it wider and even more can be accomplished.

As new HHS Secretary Dr. Tom Price starts his second week on the job, he has the opportunity to help telehealth fully achieve its promise.

His department has the power to remove some of the roadblocks to innovation and start us down a path that forever changes the delivery of care.

It starts with common purpose. The Federation of American Hospitals, which represents more than 1,100 investor-owned hospitals across the country, is crafting principles that we hope policymakers will consider as they develop future legislation and regulations.

We started by asking: With technology basically everywhere, why isn't telehealth everywhere?

HHS can do a great deal to answer that question by expanding covered services and fair payment in Medicare. Medicare is a trendsetter. If the program changes its guidelines, other payers and providers will follow.

A great deal more can be achieved by harnessing HHS' innovation authority to complement and expand on the work already being done in the private sector.

The laws governing telehealth availability need to be less restrictive. For example, in Medicare, originating site restrictions must be updated and, to keep pace with technological advances, legislators need to adopt technology-neutral telehealth policies. Additionally, states have an opportunity to develop and support efforts for providers to participate in multistate telemedicine programs.

These actions will ensure that patients can get the care they need where it is most convenient for them. The federal government, through its role in oversight of Medicaid, also should encourage states to make telehealth a fundamental tool in their Medicaid programs.

Once policymakers remove some of these barriers, it is up to us—the providers and practitioners—to be good partners and make these technologies work for patients.

The healthcare industry and the federal government cannot afford to miss the opportunities telehealth presents. We owe it to patients to adapt to these new technologies so we can continue to improve care.