Telemedicine for Medicare Act of 2015 Could Reduce Barriers to Healthcare Access

Traditionally, the law has required that physicians, including Medicare providers, be licensed in the state in which they practice. But as a new era dawns, an era in which the healthcare system evolves alongside changing technology, that requirement may be due for reform.The Telemedicine for Medicare Act of 2015 (Tele-Med Act of 2015), a federal bill making headway towards enactment, would allow the Medicare providers to deliver health care across state lines without needing a license in all the states where patients are located. The act amends Title XVIII of the Social Security Act, which prevents Medicare providers licensed in one state from providing services to beneficiaries in another state.According to the American Telemedicine Association, telemedicine is the “delivery of remote clinical services using technology.” As increasingly capable technologies arise, telemedicine adapts to include new applications and devices like video calling, smart phones, wireless syncing of information and other forms of telecommunication. The use of technology to provide medical care remotely has been facilitated by a sweeping adoption of electronic health records (EHR), which store medical information from multiple healthcare facilities and can be shared amongst doctors.Read more at Nelson Hardiman.