AB 415 which updates Telehealth law and regulations and will become effective January 1, 2012.
Posted By CAMSS Webmaster on October 10th, 2011
The following is a notice sent out by CHA (California Hospital Association) regarding AB 415 which updates Telehealth law and regulations and will become effective January 1, 2012.
Lynn M. Lopes, CPMSM, CPCS
President, California Association Medical Staff Services
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TO: CHA Member Chief Executive Officers
FROM: Peggy Broussard Wheeler, Vice President, Rural Health Care and Governance
SUBJECT: Governor Signs Telehealth Credentialing Bill
Governor Brown has signed CHA-supported AB 415 (Logue, R-Chico) — the Telehealth Advancement Act of 2011. The new law, effective January 1, 2012, will update California telehealth law and remove outdated administrative and regulatory policy barriers. It will also update the legal definition of telehealth, streamline approval processes for telehealth services, and support the expansion of telehealth services statewide.
In addition, CHA negotiated language amending the final bill that will have a significant impact on the process of credentialing and privileging of telemedicine physicians and practitioners and allow hospitals to make greater use of telehealth services.
Background
In March 2011, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule, effective July 5, 2011, implementing changes to the Medicare Conditions of Participation (CoPs) to provide more flexibility in credentialing and privileging telehealth practitioners. The changes clarify that the governing body at the hospital providing telemedicine services — the distant-site hospital — is responsible for verifying and approving credentials and granting privileges. This change allows hospitals receiving telemedicine services to grant privileges based on staff recommendations that rely on information from the distant-site hospitals that previously privileged the practitioner.
After CMS announced the final rule, however, the California Department of Public Health issued an All Facilities Letter (AFL-11-33) indicating that Title 22 CCR Section 70705 (a) requires hospitals to verify physicians wishing to practice at their facility are licensed under the provisions of the Medical Practice Act. As a result, the optional credentialing process permitted by the federal CoPs could not be implemented in California.
Due to CHA’s negotiations, AB 415 will allow for the optional credentialing process permitted by CMS. As signed into law, AB 415 authorizes the governing body of the hospital using telehealth services to verify and approve credentials and grant privileges for telehealth providers based on the hospital’s medical staff recommendations that rely on information provided by the distant-site hospital. Telehealth is further defined as including telemedicine.
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