Monthly Archives: February 2017

Telemedicine Liability – The Real Numbers

Posted by Rene Quashie on February 28, 2017
Telemedicine / No Comments

stethoscope keyboard and phoneAmidst all the interesting legal and regulatory issues implicated by telemedicine, one issue less discussed is the potential liability exposure associated with telemedicine. Many critics have argued that the nature of how telemedicine services are provided will naturally lead to increased risk for malpractice. Available data does not support the argument—at least not yet.

While not a lot of data exists, the Physician Insurers Association of America (“PIAA”) published a July 2015 article comparing telephone treatment medical professional liability (“MPL”) claims versus overall MPL claims reflected in the PIAA Data Sharing Project (“DSP”)—a very large database of MPL claims. Here are the numbers:

  • Of the 94,228 total claims in the DSP during the period from 2004-2013, a total of only 196 claims were linked with telephone treatment.
  • Of those 196 reported claims, 56 resulted in some form of claim payment.
  • The total indemnity loss related to telephone treatment was only $17 million, compared to $8 billion for the total of all MPL losses.
  • Telephone treatment claims represented only about 0.21% of all MPL losses.
  • The average indemnity loss was also lower for telephone treatment at $303,691, compared to $328,815 for all MPL claims within the DSP.

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The Critical Role of Telemedicine in the Addiction Crisis

Posted by Rene Quashie on February 17, 2017
Telemedicine / No Comments

doctor at laptopTelemedicine is now mainstream. Surprisingly, however, one area in which telemedicine has not been used to its fullest capability is drug addiction treatment. As you are aware, the country is in the midst of an addiction crisis.  The statistics are daunting:

Adding to the woeful statistics are the fairly dismal rates of addiction recovery—assuming that such recovery services are even available. Relapse rates are over 50 percent for certain drugs, and higher for opioid addicts. According to one survey, almost 9 percent of the population needs treatment but only 1 percent actually receives it. The National Institute on Drug Abuse notes that effective substance abuse treatment combines treatment medications with behavioral therapy—and traditional treatment is limited by the availability of treatment professionals who often are not available outside of in-person care settings. Continue reading…

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FSMB and ATA Documents Shed Light on States’ Views on Telemedicine

Posted by Rene Quashie on February 16, 2017
Telemedicine / No Comments

stack of official documentsOver the past year, the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) and the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) have published documents regarding telemedicine that shed some new light on how state regulatory bodies view telemedicine. Taken together, the documents are generally cause for optimism underscoring the trend towards greater acceptance of telemedicine—but there are some notes of caution as well. By way of quick background, the FSMB represents 70 state medical and osteopathic boards and helps support member boards around the country. The ATA is the largest telemedicine-focused trade association made up of industry leaders and health care stakeholders.

FSMB Survey

According to a survey report issued in December 2016, telemedicine is currently the most important regulatory topic to state medical boards. The survey was completed by 57 of the 70 medical and osteopathic medical boards in the country. Interestingly, 75 percent of boards chose telemedicine in their survey responses as one of the most important topics “making it the topic impacting the largest number of boards.” Seventy percent chose resources regarding opioid prescription. The five most important issues were:

  • Telemedicine;
  • Opioid prescribing (resources related to);
  • Physician licensure compact;
  • Physician re-entry to practice; and
  • Medical marijuana.

Surprising in these survey results is the degree to which telemedicine continues to be top of mind for state boards despite the slew of state activity that generally facilitates greater use of telemedicine (discussed more below in the ATA Gaps Report section). A reasonable explanation is that despite all the recent progress in law and policy, many state boards continue to be uneasy about telemedicine.  What that ultimately means for the industry will bear watching. Continue reading…

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