At the end of last month, t
he Governor of West Virginia, signed into law a bill implementing telemedicine best practices standards and remote prescribing rules. Thebill received unanimous, bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate.
This new legislation comes on the heels of the announcement last year that West Virginia was the fifth state to enact the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact. As it now stands, twelve states have enacted the compact, including Alabama, Utah, South Dakota, Idaho, Nevada, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Montana, Wyoming, Illinois and Iowa. Six more states are currently considering the legislation: Alaska, Arizona, Kansas, New Hampshire, Colorado and Washington. The compact is aimed at streamlining the licensing process for physicians looking to practice in multiple states – an issue closely intertwined with telemedicine.
As pointed out by the National Law Review, though West Virginia has now passed multiple pieces of legislation that facilitate the expansion of telemedicine in the state, they have yet to enact a commercial insurance coverage law, which would require health plans to cover telemedicine services if that same care would be covered if conducted in an in-person environment. 29 states, along with DC have already enacted some type of insurance coverage law.
The new legislation outlines guidelines for establishing a proper physician-patient relationship, conducting telemedicine examinations, and remote prescribing among other best practices.
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