News Feature | February 4, 2015

Will The Telemedicine Draft Bill Mean A Growing Market For VARs?

By Megan Williams, contributing writer

CMS Increases Telemedicine Reimbursement

Telemedicine is addressed in a draft bill being circulated by a working group of House Energy And Commerce Committee members, according to HIMSS.

The eight member working group is comprised of members who all have history creating telemedicine legislation: representatives Gregg Harper (R-MS), Peter Welch (D-VT), Bob Latta (R-OH), Greg Walden (D-OR), Doris Matsui (D-CA), Bill Johnson (R-OH), ranking committee member Frank Pallone (D-NJ), and committee chairman Fred Upton (R-MI).

Feedback And Hurdles

The working group collected input from telemedicine and telehealth stakeholders late in January to add more accurate detail to the initial discussion draft version. In draft form, it’s not officially part of the Committees 21st Century Cures initiative, it could possibly be in the future or stand as a bill on its own.

Costs, as always, are still a concern. The Congressional Budget Office has not yet been involved in scoring the cost of the drafted bill. Currently, the bill eases Medicare’s work in making additional payments for telemedicine services, as long as those services meet requirements like reducing the cost of service, or addressing unmet medical needs.

Telemedicine In 2015

The legislation comes just at a time when telemedicine is expected to see significant growth.

VentureBeat has raised the question of whether 2015 will be the year telemedicine genuinely starts to shine. From the advent of telemedicine robots, the growth of wearables, and increased public comfort with video chat, it looks like that may be true. Additional signals that telemedicine and telehealth are on an upward trend include,

  • A global telemedicine market expected to be worth $27 billion by 2016
  • A significant predicted increase of patient interaction with healthcare system occurring via mobile devices (expected to be 65 percent by 2018)
  • Heavy investment in the sector by Google Ventures (one third of their 2014 investment)

For this to happen though, a few things will need to change: Virtual diagnosis and in-person treatment will have to merge more effectively, normalization of high-quality devices will have to occur, and the need for post-treatment care and compliance will need to be properly addressed.

Suggested Reading

Wondering about the bottom line benefit telemedicine and telehealth can bring to your clients? Read this cost-benefit study.