Health IT, Policy

Indiana considers allowing telemedicine prescriptions

The legislation would permit physicians, PAs and NPs to write prescriptions for remote patients, as long as they have established a provider-patient relationship. It would exclude controlled substances and abortion drugs.

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A bill that would allow for prescriptions by telemedicine has passed the Indiana House of Representatives. House Bill 1263 passed the House last week by a 74-24 margin after a change to placate conservative lawmakers, and now is before the Senate.

The legislation would permit physicians, physician assistants and advanced-practice nurses to write prescriptions for remote patients, as long as they have established a provider-patient relationship. The two parties may establish a relationship via telemedicine by collecting the patient’s medical history, obtaining informed consent, discussing the diagnosis and treatment options, creating a medical record of the patient and developing a plan for follow-up care.

This bill does excludes vision services provided by telephone, audio-only communication, fax, e-mail or instant messaging. It also excludes controlled substances and abortion drugs; the abortion provision was added during committee deliberations.

Bill sponsor Rep. Cindy Kirchhofer (R-Indianapolis) previously cited telemedicine as a way to expand access to care in the Hoosier State, which did not expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act and ranks above the national average in terms of uninsured residents. She also noted, as this tweet pointed out, that Indiana lags in acceptance of telemedicine. (Kirchhofer retweeted it.)

One lawmaker in opposition to the bill worried about overprescription of drugs, thanks to out-of-state drug marketers. “So are they going to get on TV and see somebody in Ohio or Nevada who tells them, ‘Why don’t you take this or that and the other,'” Rep. Ed DeLaney (D-Indianapolis) said, according to Indiana Public Media.

For her part, Kirchhofer told IPM that the legislation is intended to make it easier for patients with chronic diseases to get the medications they need to control their conditions.

 

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