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Minutes for HB2512 - Committee on Health and Human Services
Short Title
Establishing the Kansas telemedicine act.
Minutes Content for Thu, Feb 1, 2018
After the Chairperson opened the hearing on HB2512, he asked Eileen Ma to present the bill brief. She reported Telemedicine means the delivery of healthcare services or consultations while the patient is at an originating site and the physician or licensed mental healthcare professional is at a distant site. She said this bill outlines that Telemedicine would be provided in real time which would be two-way interactive audio, visual, or by audio-visual communications. She explained that this bill is completely new from the previous ones except for Sections 7 and 8.
Proponents:
Holly Cobb, MSN, APRN-C, KS Advanced Practice Nurses Association, said she is supportive of the bill; however, she would like clarification of the definition of telehealth providers stated in HB2512, and requests inclusion of APRN practitioners (Attachment 2).
Rachelle Colombo, Director of Government Affairs, Kansas Medical Society, said telemedicine is a tool that can and should enhance the patient-physician relationship and has the potential to improve access to healthcare (Attachment 3).
Claudia Duck Tucker, Vice President of Government Affairs, Teledoc, believes this bill is fair, affordable and clear. She said it is probably not everything everyone wants, but it does provide clarity about prescribing via telemedicine and clearly defines how the physician-patient relationship (Attachment 4).
Sunee Mickle, Director of Government Relations, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, supports HB2512, and hopes it can pass without expanding the scope to include reimbursement parity or additional providers, so Kansans can receive greater access to the most immediate health care services so private health insurance is affordable for individuals, businesses or municipalities (Attachment 5).
Chad Austin, Senior Vice President, Government Relations, Kansas Hospital Association, supports the bill and believes telemedicine is important because it will provide access to needed health care services. He said that their members believe that through the advancement of this technology and its utilization, Kansans will experience high quality accessible care regardless if they reside in a rural or urban locality (Attachment 6).
Dr. Bob Moser, Executive Director, Kansas Heart and Stroke Collaborative, spoke in favor of this telemedicine legislation because. he said, it will improve patient access to healthcare services (Attachment 7).
Melissa Panettiere, Director, Governmental Affairs, BCBS of Kansas City says they are committed to implementing innovative programs for their members in order to keep the cost of care down while ensuring members have access to care. She thinks telemedicine is an approach that helps to accomplish this goal (Attachment 8).
Chad Johanning M.D., Gov. Adv. Comm. Chair & Elected Secretary, Kansas Academy of Family Physicians, supports expanded use of telemedicine as an appropriate and efficient means of improving health when conducted within the context of appropriate standards of care (Attachment 9).
Colin Thomasset, Associate Director, Assoc. of Community Mental Health Centers of KS, Inc, told the committee, his organization is supportive of HB2512; however, requests language be added that explicitly references both APRNs and PAs and ensure they are included as healthcare providers as defined in the bill (Attachment 10).
The Chairman closed the hearing for proponents on HB2512 with the hearing for opponents and neutral continuing on Monday, February 5 2018.
