SAN ANTONIO – The Texas Medical Board is placing new restrictions on telemedicine, a way to visit the doctor over the phone or online.
Telemedicine is marketed as a convenient way to see a doctor, often with cheaper copays. But under new guidelines, patients can’t visit the doctor through a virtual office until they’ve been to the physical office first.
To learn more about the change, Fox San Antonio used the website our company’s insurance recommends for telemedicine. You can see your choice of doctors, read up on their backgrounds and make an appointment.
That’s how we connected with Dr. Chris Tidwell.
“I’m an emergency medical physician,” he says. “I’ve been doing this for 11 years now.”
He runs a hospital emergency room, but not here in San Antonio.
“I live in Mississippi,” Dr. Tidwell says. “Right now, I’m at a medical directors’ conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.”
He is board certified, and licensed to practice in Texas. His internet patients are usually suffering from minor ailments, like sore throats and ear infections.
“We save them time,” Dr. Tidwell says. “We also save the health care delivery system and resources.”
But under new state guidelines, he and many other won’t be able to treat patients unless they’ve already seen them face-to-face.
“You have to be able to see them, listen to their heart, touch them. You can’t just answer a questionnaire over a phone,” Bexar County Medical Society president Dr. James Humphreys says.
He says the change is meant to make telemedicine safer.
“There needs to be proper safeguards for the patients to make sure they do get continuity of care and proper follow-up,” Dr. Humphreys says.
But Dr. Tidwell believes telemedicine is already safe. Records are kept online, and every call is recorded.
“It’s all HIPAA compliant,” he says.
He says telemedicine companies are already fighting back against the restrictions.
“I fear that if this decision is not revisited, it will greatly affect our ability to deliver care to our patients,” Dr. Tidwell says.
The new rules are scheduled to go into effect June 3. There are provisions for patients in rural areas who might not be able to see a specialist without telemedicine.
Date: May 13, 2015