New Florida telehealth laws will alter medical care

Two important bills passed during this year’s Florida legislative session would impact patient care and healthcare access through the use of telehealth.

House bill 267, which took effect July 1, unanimously passed in the House on April 26 and the Senate on May 7. The law revises the definition of telehealth technology authorization to include telephone calls, which were excluded, along with email messages and facsimile transmission.

The bill, however, does not address insurance coverage and reimbursement for healthcare providers; it “does not affect whether health insurers will reimburse health care practitioners for services provided through telephone calls,” according to the Florida House staff final bill analysis.

“[Telehealth had] a tremendous impact on patient care,” said Dr. Carmel J. Barrau, president of the Dade County Medical Association. “We’ve already seen that during the pandemic. We were able to access patients, advise them, and communicate with them on a regular basis. This made a significant positive impact in the delivery of care for patients in Florida.”

The association was glad to see HB 267 passed, with the use of audio-only communications included in the bill, he said, because many seniors in our community do not have access to visual telehealth.

In addition, House bill 387, which also passed in June with wide support, will require physicians to perform in-person physical examinations prior to issuing certifications for the medical use of marijuana and allowing physicians to perform patient examinations and evaluation through telehealth for renewals, according to the Florida Senate.

Senate bill 1232, however, failed to pass this year. the bill would have revised the circumstances under which a telehealth provider may use telehealth to prescribe certain controlled substances for the treatment of terminal conditions or cancer.

According to the bill’s Analysis and Fiscal Impact Statement, “when the authorization for health care practitioners to practice through telehealth was initially enacted in 2019, telehealth providers were prohibited from prescribing any controlled substance unless the controlled substance was prescribed for the treatment of a psychiatric disorder, inpatient treatment at a licensed hospital; the treatment of a patient receiving hospice services; or the treatment of a resident of a nursing home facility.”

The bill, which was filed in February, received favorable votes from the health policy committee, but it died in judiciary review in May.

“We hope that [next year] we’re going to be able to continue the conversation with our elected officials to strengthen the link between providers and patients through technology,” said Dr. Barrau. “It really brings the delivery of medical care to the next level.”