Addressing Urban-Rural Treatment Gaps Through Telemedicine

by Kris Rusch

The near-universal access to at least some forms of information and communications technology in the United States makes it possible for hospitals to reach new patients with telemedicine while helping to address long-standing disparities in access to care, particularly for residents in rural areas.

Telemedicine, also called telehealth or E-therapy, refers to the use of telecommunications technology to deliver clinical care. (“Health IT” typically refers to the electronic transmission of administrative records, not to delivery of service.)

The array of services offered through telemedicine is vast and includes consultations with neurologists following traumatic brain injuries, treatment for substance abuse and mental illness, monitoring patients in ICUs, store-and-forward imaging, and connecting providers at rural hospitals with round-theclock access to neonatologists. The American Telemedicine Association (ATA) estimates that about 200 telemedicine networks comprise 3,500 service sites across the country.

As of July 2014, according to the ATA, 22 states require private payers to cover telemedicine services as if the services are delivered face-toface, with 14 other states considering such proposed legislation. With the July release of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed rule, which in part suggests expanding payments for at least some telehealth services, the government signals its intent to embrace the expansion of telemedicine.

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