Providers applaud passage of telemedicine bill

April 12--YAKIMA, Wash. -- If a patient wants to talk to her psychologist via video conferencing, or a physician needs to consult with a specialist hundreds of miles away, the Legislature just made it a lot easier for that to happen.

State lawmakers last week passed a bill that requires insurance companies to pay providers for telemedicine services in a comparable way to how those services are reimbursed when provided in person, which means physicians and mental health professionals can now expand telemedicine without being deterred by cost.

"We like it. We're very happy about it," said Rick Weaver, CEO of Comprehensive Mental Health, which uses video conferencing for psychologist appointments. "What it really does, is it means that we can use a tool we're already using more broadly."

Telemedicine allows providers and patients to communicate via video over a secure Web connection, similar to Skype or FaceTime. The providers could be located anywhere, as long as the Internet connection is strong enough. The legislative proposal, Senate Bill 5175, passed the House almost unanimously Wednesday and now just needs the governor's signature to become law.

The bill was a big priority this session for the Washington State Medical Association, as well as the Hospital Association.

"It will definitely increase access to care in underserved areas," WSMA president Jennifer Hanscom said a couple weeks before the bill's passage. "Potentially, it will reduce the cost that the patient will incur in trying to get services out of town."

For rural, underserved areas like the Yakima Valley and much of Central Washington, telemedicine could allow patients to connect with specialists that would otherwise never be available.

KVH Hospital in Ellensburg started using telemedicine in 2010 to give emergency room doctors better access to neurological specialists for stroke consultations.

On the mental health side, Weaver said that telepsych has been popular among Comprehensive's patients, with some even switching from in-person appointments to the video conferencing option. However, up to this point, it has only offered the service to Medicaid patients, because Medicaid has been the only program to pay for it.

"Most insurance companies and those kinds of groups, they find reasons not to do it," Weaver said. The bill would help them to "spread their resources" to reach specific patients.

For instance, he said, "Children's psychology is really difficult. Being able to have a child psychologist available in Goldendale, or in Sunnyside -- that's really great."

The fiscal note for SB 5175 estimates no cost to implement the legislation. The note states that telemedicine services are generally "less costly" than face-to-face services, so the state Medicaid program could actually end up paying less in health benefits and transportation costs.

"This is a huge win for patients and a major step forward in the work to make high-quality care accessible to all Washington state communities," Hospital Association President Scott Bond said in a news release Thursday.

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