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Medicare

  1. Medicare Reimbursement - Narrowly limited coverage for telemedicine delays adoption in medical practice, avoids cost-saving measures and restricts consumer access to cost-effective, quality medical care. Reimbursement for remote medical and health services should be changed to include a) all citizens of the United States, regardless of their location, b) store-and forward services as well as live, interactive visits, and c) all institutions currently eligible to participate in the Medicare program.

  2. Remote Monitoring - Medicare should not require patients to come into the doctor's office for routine, scheduled health monitoring appointments where such services can easily and efficiently be provided remotely in the patient's home or office. Limiting such remote monitoring services to those that would have otherwise been provided in the physician's offices will add no federal costs but will save consumers the cost and inconvenience of traveling and taking time off work to make such appointments.

  3. Home Telehealth - Home telehealth has been proven to save money and improve care and is proven to be a valued service by patients. The Veterans Administration has decided to deploy home telehealth as a valuable cost-effective service for the nation's veterans. Medicare should follow their lead and encourage home care providers to use home telehealth as a recognized and paid component in the provision of home care. Such a step can lead to significant cost savings for local agencies that are often faced with mounting financial losses.

  4. Telemedicine Triage - Telemedicine can be effectively used to reduce the use of costly emergency room visits. Telemedicine "triage" stations placed at community centers, pharmacies, etc. can allow consumers to consult with a nurse, send vital signs, etc. allowing the patient to receive advise on whether to go to the hospital, see a doctor or just go to bed. Variations of this practice are in use by HMOs, as well as in Canada and England. The potential cost savings from reduced use of emergency rooms are enormous.

Telemedicine for Preparedness and Response

Public policy should encourage the use of telemedicine to help prepare and respond to large emergencies, whether caused by natural disaster or terrorist act. Such telecommunications connections can provide instant access to resources at the nation's tertiary care medical centers regardless of location. ATA encourages federal policies that support the integration and utilization of telemedicine in the design and development of preparedness and response networks and link public health and other emergency response networks with existing telemedicine systems.

Federal programs and initiatives that advance the deployment of telemedicine technology and services

The advancement of programs and technologies that improve patient outcomes, add efficiency to health systems, and help to alleviate the disparity in health care resources can be accomplished through leveraging appropriate public resources supporting telemedicine. The federal government continues to provide important financial and technical support for the development of telemedicine networks through a variety of research, grant and support programs. Research conducted by the National Institutes of Health and Department of Defense has provided the seed for many breakthroughs in technology and applications. Grants administered by the Departments of Health and Human Services, Agriculture and Commerce have supported many state and local initiatives that have helped thousands of Americans. Full funding for such programs is vital as the nation's health care system copes with a crisis of cost and quality.

 

© 2004 American Telemedicine Association
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