Bill Text: HI SB2469 | 2014 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Telehealth; Insurance; Health Care Providers; Reimbursement
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)
Status: (Passed) 2014-07-03 - Act 159, 6/30/2014 (Gov. Msg. No. 1262). [SB2469 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2014-SB2469-Amended.html
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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
2469 |
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TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2014 |
S.D. 2 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
H.D. 2 |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO TELEHEALTH.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that one of the challenges faced by the country's health care system is providing quality care to segments of the population who do not have access to essential services because of geographic limitations. The use of telehealth to deliver health care from a distance is an effective way of overcoming certain barriers to accessing care, particularly for communities located in rural and remote areas. This is especially important in a state like Hawaii, where residents on the neighbor islands and in rural areas lack the same level of access to care that residents in urban areas of Oahu enjoy.
The legislature further finds that telehealth services are used extensively across the country with no compromise in quality of care when the services are within the scope of practice of a provider. However, reimbursement policies vary between health plans, leading to confusion among health care providers and restrictions on patient access to quality health care.
The legislature additionally finds that requiring parity for telehealth services will empower consumer choice, reduce disparities in access to care, enhance health care provider availability, and improve quality of care.
The legislature also finds that various sections of the Hawaii Revised Statutes contain different definitions for or references to "telemedicine" and "telehealth" and notes that these definitions and references should be harmonized for consistency.
Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to:
(1) Require equivalent insurance reimbursement for services provided by a health care provider to a patient, regardless of whether the service is provided through telehealth or via face-to-face contact between health care provider and patient;
(2) Clarify that health care providers for purposes of telehealth include primary care providers, mental health providers, oral health providers, physicians and osteopathic physicians, advanced practice registered nurses, psychologists, and dentists; and
(3) Change references to "telemedicine" in the Hawaii Revised Statutes to "telehealth" for consistency.
SECTION 2. Section 209E-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending the definition of "medical and health care services" to read as follows:
""Medical and
health care services" means medical research, clinical trials, and [telemedicine,]
telehealth, but not routine medical treatment or services."
SECTION 3. Section 431:10A-116.3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:
"(c) Reimbursement
for services provided through telehealth shall be equivalent to reimbursement
for the same services provided via face-to-face contact between a health care
provider and a patient. There shall be no reimbursement for a telehealth
consultation between health care providers unless a health care provider-patient
relationship exists between the patient and one of the health care providers
involved in the telehealth interaction[.] and the patient is
accompanied by a treating health care provider at the time telehealth services
are provided by the consulting health care provider.
For the purposes of this
section, "health care provider" means a provider of services, as
defined in 42 U.S.C. 1395x(u), a provider of medical and other health services,
as defined in 42 U.S.C. 1395x(s), and any other person or organization who
furnishes, bills, or is paid for health care in the normal course of business[.],
including but not limited to primary care providers, mental health providers,
oral health providers, physicians and osteopathic physicians licensed under
chapter 453, advanced practice registered nurses licensed under chapter 457,
psychologists licensed under chapter 465, and dentists licensed under chapter
448."
SECTION 4. Section 432:1-601.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:
"(c) Reimbursement
for services provided through telehealth shall be equivalent to reimbursement
for the same services provided via face-to-face contact between a health care
provider and a patient. There shall be no reimbursement for a telehealth
consultation between health care providers unless a health care
provider-patient relationship exists between the patient and one of the health
care providers involved in the telehealth interaction[.] and the
patient is accompanied by a treating health care provider at the time
telehealth services are provided by the consulting health care provider.
For the purposes of this
section, "health care provider" means a provider of services, as
defined in 42 U.S.C. 1395x(u), a provider of medical or other health services,
as defined in 42 U.S.C. 1395x(s), and any other person or organization who
furnishes, bills, or is paid for health care in the normal course of business[.],
including but not limited to primary care providers, mental health providers,
oral health providers, physicians and osteopathic physicians licensed under
chapter 453, advanced practice registered nurses licensed under chapter 457,
psychologists licensed under chapter 465, and dentists licensed under chapter
448."
SECTION 5. Section 432D-23.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:
"(c) Reimbursement
for services provided through telehealth shall be equivalent to reimbursement
for the same services provided via face-to-face contact between a health care
provider and a patient. There shall be no reimbursement for a telehealth
consultation between health care providers unless an existing health care
provider-patient relationship exists between the patient and one of the health
care providers involved in the telehealth interaction[.] and the
patient is accompanied by a treating health care provider at the time
telehealth services are provided by the consulting health care provider.
For the purposes of this
section, "health care provider" means a provider of services, as
defined in 42 U.S.C. 1395x(u), a provider of medical or other health services,
as defined in 42 U.S.C. 1395x(s), and any other person or organization who
furnishes, bills, or is paid for health care in the normal course of business[.],
including but not limited to primary care providers, mental health providers,
oral health providers, physicians and osteopathic physicians licensed under
chapter 453, advanced practice registered nurses licensed under chapter 457,
psychologists licensed under chapter 465, and dentists licensed under chapter
448."
SECTION 6. Section 440G-11.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
"[[](a)[]]
In conjunction with broadband services, the director shall:
(1) Promote and encourage use of telework alternatives for public and private employees, including appropriate policy and legislative initiatives;
(2) Advise and assist state agencies, and upon request of the counties, advise and assist the counties, in planning, developing, and administering programs, projects, plans, policies, and other activities to promote telecommuting by employees of state and county agencies;
(3) Support the efforts of both public and private entities in Hawaii to enhance or facilitate the deployment of, and access to, competitively priced, advanced electronic communications services, including broadband and its products and services and internet access services of general application throughout Hawaii;
(4) Make recommendations to establish affordable, accessible broadband services to unserved and underserved areas of Hawaii and monitor advancements in communications that will facilitate this goal;
(5) Advocate for, and facilitate the
development and deployment of, expanded broadband applications, programs, and
services, including telework, [telemedicine,] telehealth, and
e-learning, that will bolster the usage of and demand for broadband level
telecommunications;
(6) Serve as a broadband information and applications clearinghouse for the State and a coordination point for federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 broadband-related services and programs; and
(7) Promote, advocate, and facilitate the implementation of the findings and recommendations of the Hawaii broadband task force established by Act 2, First Special Session Laws of Hawaii 2007."
SECTION 7. Section 453-1.3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§453-1.3 Practice of [telemedicine.] telehealth. (a) Subject to section 453-2(b), nothing in this section shall
preclude any physician acting within the scope of the physician's license to
practice from practicing [telemedicine] telehealth as defined in
this section.
(b) For the purposes of this
section, ["telemedicine"] "telehealth" means
the use of telecommunications [services,] as
that term is defined in section 269-1, including but not limited to real-time video [or web
conferencing] conferencing-based communication [or],
secure interactive and non-interactive web-based communication [to establish], and secure asynchronous information exchange, to transmit patient
medical information, including diagnostic-quality digital images and laboratory
results for medical interpretation and diagnosis, for the purposes of
delivering enhanced health care services and information to parties separated
by distance, establishing a physician-patient relationship, [to evaluate] evaluating
a patient, or [to treat] treating a patient. ["Telehealth"
as used in chapters 431, 432, and 432D, includes "telemedicine" as
defined in this section.]
(c) [Telemedicine] Telehealth
services shall include a documented patient evaluation, including history and a
discussion of physical symptoms adequate to establish a diagnosis and to
identify underlying conditions or contraindications to the treatment
recommended or provided.
(d) Treatment
recommendations made via [telemedicine,] telehealth, including
issuing a prescription via electronic means, shall be held to the same
standards of appropriate practice as those in traditional physician-patient
settings that do not include a face-to-face visit but in which prescribing is
appropriate, including on-call telephone encounters and encounters for which a
follow-up visit is arranged. Issuing a prescription based solely on an online
questionnaire is not treatment for the purposes of this section and does not
constitute an acceptable standard of care. For the purposes of prescribing a
controlled substance, a physician-patient relationship shall be established pursuant
to chapter 329.
(e) All medical reports
resulting from [telemedicine] telehealth services are part of a
patient's health record and shall be made available to the patient. Patient
medical records shall be maintained in compliance with all applicable state and
federal requirements including privacy requirements.
(f) A physician shall not
use [telemedicine] telehealth to establish a physician-patient
relationship with a patient in this State without a license to practice
medicine in Hawaii. Once a provider-patient relationship is established, a
patient or physician licensed in this State may use [telemedicine] telehealth
for any purpose, including consultation with a medical provider licensed in
another state, authorized by this section[,] or as otherwise provided by
law."
SECTION 8. Section 453-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
"(b) Nothing herein shall:
(1) Apply to so-called Christian Scientists; provided that the Christian Scientists practice the religious tenets of their church without pretending a knowledge of medicine or surgery;
(2) Prohibit service in the case of emergency or the domestic administration of family remedies;
(3) Apply to any commissioned
medical officer in the United States armed forces or public health service
engaged in the discharge of one's official duty, including
a commissioned medical officer employed by the United States Department of
Defense, while providing direct [telemedicine] telehealth support
or services to neighbor island beneficiaries within a Hawaii National Guard
armory on the island of Kauai, Hawaii, Molokai, or Maui; provided that the
commissioned medical officer employed by the United States Department of
Defense is credentialed by Tripler Army Medical Center;
(4) Apply to any practitioner of
medicine and surgery from another state when in actual consultation, including
in-person, mail, electronic, telephonic, fiber-optic, or other [telemedicine]
telehealth consultation with a licensed physician or osteopathic
physician of this State, if the physician or osteopathic physician from another
state at the time of consultation is licensed to practice in the state in which
the physician or osteopathic physician resides; provided that:
(A) The physician or osteopathic physician from another state shall not open an office, or appoint a place to meet patients in this State, or receive calls within the limits of the State for the provision of care for a patient who is located in this State;
(B) The licensed physician or osteopathic physician of this State retains control and remains responsible for the provision of care for the patient who is located in this State; and
(C) The laws and rules relating to contagious diseases are not violated;
(5) Prohibit services rendered by any person certified under part II of this chapter to provide emergency medical services, or any physician assistant, when the services are rendered under the direction and control of a physician or osteopathic physician licensed in this State except for final refraction resulting in a prescription for spectacles, contact lenses, or visual training as performed by an oculist or optometrist duly licensed by the State. The direction and control shall not be construed in every case to require the personal presence of the supervising and controlling physician or osteopathic physician. Any physician or osteopathic physician who employs or directs a person certified under part II of this chapter to provide emergency medical services, or a physician assistant, shall retain full professional and personal responsibility for any act that constitutes the practice of medicine when performed by the certified person or physician assistant;
(6) Prohibit automated external defibrillation by:
(A) Any first responder personnel certified by the department of health to provide automated external defibrillation when it is rendered under the medical oversight of a physician or osteopathic physician licensed in this State; or
(B) Any person acting in accordance with section 663‑1.5(e); or
(7) Prohibit a radiologist duly
licensed to practice medicine and provide radiology services in another state
from using [telemedicine] telehealth while located in this State
to provide radiology services to a patient who is located in the state in which
the radiologist is licensed. For the purposes of this paragraph:
"Radiologist" means a doctor of medicine or a doctor of osteopathy certified in radiology by the American Board of Radiology or the American Board of Osteopathy.
["Telemedicine"]
"Telehealth" means the use of telecommunications [services],
as that term is defined in section 269-1, including but not limited to real-time video conferencing-based communication, secure
interactive and non-interactive web-based communication, and secure
asynchronous information exchange, to transmit patient medical information, [such
as] including diagnostic-quality digital images and laboratory
results for medical interpretation and diagnosis, [and deliver] for the purpose of delivering enhanced
health care services and information to parties
separated by distance. Standard telephone
contacts, facsimile transmissions, or email texts, in combination or by themselves,
do not constitute a telehealth service for the purposes of this paragraph."
SECTION 9. Section 455-1.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"[[]§455-1.5[]] Exceptions;
scope of chapter. Nothing in this chapter shall
be construed to prohibit or restrict:
(1) The practice of a profession by individuals who are licensed, certified, or registered under the laws of this State who are performing services within their authorized scope of practice;
(2) The practice of naturopathic medicine by an individual employed by the government of the United States while the individual is engaged in the performance of duties required of the individual by the laws and regulations of the United States;
(3) The practice of naturopathic medicine by students enrolled in a school that meets the requirements of section 455-3. The performance of naturopathic medicine by students shall be pursuant to a course of instruction or assignments from an instructor and under the supervision of an instructor who is a naturopathic physician licensed pursuant to this chapter; and
(4) The practice by a doctor of naturopathic
medicine duly registered or licensed in another state, territory, or the
District of Columbia who is called into this State for consultation with a
licensed naturopathic physician, including in-person, mail, electronic,
telephonic, fiber-optic, or other [telemedicine] telehealth consultation;
provided that:
(A) The naturopathic physician from another state shall not open an office, appoint a place to meet patients, or receive calls within this State for the provision of care for a patient who is located in this State; and
(B) The licensed naturopathic physician of this State retains control and remains responsible for the provision of care for the patient who is located in this State."
SECTION 10. Section 457-2.7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
"(a) Practice as an advanced practice registered nurse means the scope of nursing in a category approved by the board, regardless of compensation or personal profit, and includes the registered nurse scope of practice. The scope of an advanced practice registered nurse includes but is not limited to advanced assessment; telehealth; and the diagnosis, prescription, selection, and administration of therapeutic measures including over the counter drugs, legend drugs, and controlled substances within the advanced practice registered nurse's role and specialty-appropriate education and certification."
SECTION 11. Section 466J-6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
"(a) Any provision in this chapter to the contrary notwithstanding, a license shall not be required for:
(1) A licensed medical practitioner in radiology;
(2) A licensed practitioner of nuclear medicine;
(3) A licensed physician assistant;
(4) A licensed doctor of dentistry;
(5) A licensed dental technician;
(6) A licensed dental hygienist;
(7) A student in an approved school for radiographers, radiation therapists, or nuclear medicine technologists, or in a school of medicine, podiatry, dentistry, or a chiropractic school; provided that the student is operating x-ray machines under the direct supervision of a licensed radiographer, licensed radiation therapist, licensed nuclear medicine technologist, or a qualified person pursuant to this chapter; and
(8) A radiologist duly licensed to
practice medicine and radiology services in another state who uses [telemedicine]
telehealth while located in this State to provide radiology services to
a patient who is located in the state in which the radiologist is licensed.
For the purposes of this paragraph:
"Radiologist" means a doctor of medicine or a doctor of osteopathy certified in radiology by the American Board of Radiology or the American Board of Osteopathy.
["Telemedicine"]
"Telehealth" means the use of telecommunications [services],
as that term is defined in section 269-1, including but not limited to real-time
video conferencing-based communication, secure interactive and non-interactive
web-based communication, and secure asynchronous information exchange, to
transmit patient medical information, [such as] including diagnostic-quality
digital images and laboratory results for medical interpretation and diagnosis,
[and deliver] for the purpose of delivering enhanced health care
services and information to parties separated by distance. Standard
telephone contacts, facsimile transmissions, or email texts, in combination or
by themselves, do not constitute a telehealth service for the purposes of this
paragraph."
SECTION 12. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 13. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
Report Title:
Telehealth; Insurance; Health Care Providers; Reimbursement
Description:
Requires equivalent reimbursement for services provided through telehealth as for the same services provided via face-to-face contact. Clarifies definition of health care provider for telehealth purposes. Changes statutory references to "telemedicine" to "telehealth" for consistency. (SB2469 HD2)
The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
