Arkansas is inching closer to the national standard of telemedicine allowances. The state’s Medical Board unanimously passed requirements allowing doctors to examine patients from afar through audio and visual technology, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.
Patients and physicians must establish a relationship before a telemedicine visits, the rules state, and the relationship cannot be established if a patient only completes medical history forms online.
This was actually the second time the board had voted to pass Regulation 38, which established key definitions for “store and forward technology” and the “originating site.” Even though the Arkansas State Medical Board had approved these regulations, the state legislature’s Rules and Regulations subcommittee had taken issue with some of the language.
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Kaiser Permanente is tapping into the convenience and cost-cutting of telemedicine. Last year, the healthcare system conducted more interactions between patients and healthcare providers virtually than in person, Fortune reported. During the Dreamforce conference in San Francisco, Kaiser Permanente CEO Bernard J. Tyson reported the figures and said it demonstrates “greater interaction with our members and health care system.”
“For the first time, last year, we had over 110 million interactions between our physicians and our members,” Tyson told the conference, and said that more than half of them were done via smartphone, videoconferencing, kiosks, and other technology tools.
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Finally, San Francisco-based telemedicine company Doctor on Demand announced it will be offering its services for free to all those affected by Hurricane Matthew in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. The company aims to provide services during times where it’s often impossible to access healthcare due to flooding, road closures or office closures, and their video consultations will be available 24/7. Mental health services are appointment-only, between 7 am and 10 pm. People in these affected areas will be access the medical and mental services for free by entering the code MATTHEW to redeem their visit.
