Teladoc CEO Jason Gorevic certainly had a lot to talk about on yesterday’s Q2 earnings call. Referencing the recent legislation in Texas and the company’s acquisition of Best Doctors, Gorevic called Q2 2017 "the most exciting quarter in the company's history”. On the call, Gorevic delved into some details about how Teladoc and best Doctors will integrate, shared some future plans for the company...
In the State of Texas, a major piece of telemedicine legislation is sitting on Governor Greg Abbott’s desk. Known as Senate Bill 1107 and House Bill 2697, the bill abolishes the requirement that patient-physician relationships be established with an in-person visit before telemedicine can be used.
(Update: As expected, Abbott signed the bill on Saturday.)
Texas is the final state of 50 to abolish...
With an emphasis on member engagement strategies, some big new clients and a boost in utilization from a “short but severe cold and flu season” in early 2017, Teladoc’s first quarter of the year kept the telemedicine company in good financial standing.
With record-high visits totaling 385,000 in the quarter ending March 31, the company saw revenue increases across the board. Total revenue was at...
Accessing medical services across the expansive state of Montana can be tough. With a majority of residents marooned in rural areas that can be separated by significant distances or poor road conditions, more people are using telemedicine to meet with their doctors. Accordingly, legislators have introduced a bill to put, as Representative Kirk Wagoner said, “sideboards on the practice of...
Federal standards for telemedicine reimbursement are becoming more of a reality. The newly reintroduced Senate Bill 870, called Creating High Quality Results and Outcomes Necessary to Improve Chronic Care Act of 2017 (also referred to as CHRONIC), aims to hone in on Medicare payment reform in order to expand telemedicine services for chronic disease management and at-home care coordination.
Along...
The latest legislative effort to establish telemedicine guidelines in Texas may finally be what everyone has been waiting for. Senator Charles Schwertner submitted a bill this week created out of months of negotiations between various medical boards, regulatory agencies and industry groups, and it contains a compromise that may finally bring an end to the longtime telemedicine standoff in the...
Telemedicine implementation around the country is improving overall, although some states are bottoming out on their progress, according to the latest state-by-state assessment by the American Telemedicine Association that gives letter grades on their policies around practice standards and payment policies.
The ATA’s report is an update to two state policy reports that identify gaps in coverage,...
The Texas Association of Business, a lobbying group that represents the state’s employers, is joining the pro-telemedicine camp: the group just released two surveys (one of its members, one of the voting public) totaling more than 750 people that serve as a support to legislation that would allow telemedicine to operate more freely in the state.
“Texas health care consumers are calling for new...
When it comes to telemedicine, Texas is behind the national curve. While most states have passed legislation that greenlights various telemedicine services, Texas (along with Arkansas) still lag on the initial foray into telehealth services, struggling, for example, to define whether a video visit or a phone call can appropriately establish a patient-physician relationship.
Which is why the...
Even as the legal battle between the Texas State Medical Board and Teladoc soldiers on, many of the involved parties in the state appear interested in putting the conflict behind them and moving on.
The Texas Tribune is reporting that lobbyists for groups affiliated with both telemedicine companies and physician organizations recently met in a closed-door session to discuss "modernizing our...
