§432:1 601 - .5 Coverage for telehealth. - Hawaii Statutes

     §432:1‑601.5  Coverage for telehealth.  (a)  It is the intent of the legislature to recognize the application of telehealth as a reimbursable service by which an individual shall receive medical services from a health care provider without face-to-face contact with the provider.

     (b)  No mutual benefit society plan that is issued, amended, or renewed shall require face-to-face contact between a health care provider and a patient as a prerequisite for payment for services appropriately provided through telehealth in accordance with generally accepted health care practices and standards prevailing in the applicable professional community at the time the services were provided.  The coverage required in this section may be subject to all terms and conditions of the plan agreed upon among the enrollee or subscriber, the mutual benefit society, and the provider.

     (c)  There shall be no reimbursement for a telehealth consultation between health care providers unless a health care provider-patient relationship exists between the patient and one of the health care providers involved in the telehealth interaction.

     For the purposes of this section, "health care provider" means a provider of services, as defined in 42 U.S.C. 1395x(u), a provider of medical or other health services, as defined in 42 U.S.C. 1395x(s), and any other person or organization who furnishes, bills, or is paid for health care in the normal course of business.

     (d)  Notwithstanding chapter 453 or rules adopted pursuant thereto, in the event that a health care provider-patient relationship does not exist between the patient and the health care provider to be involved in a telehealth interaction between the patient and health care provider, a telehealth mechanism may be used to establish a health care provider-patient relationship.

     (e)  For the purposes of this section, "telehealth" means the use of telecommunications services, as defined in section 269‑1, including but not limited to real-time video conferencing-based communication, secure interactive and non‑interactive web-based communication, and secure asynchronous information exchange, to transmit patient medical information, including diagnostic-quality digital images and laboratory results for medical interpretation and diagnosis, for the purpose of delivering enhanced health care services and information to parties separated by distance.  Standard telephone contacts, facsimile transmissions, or email text, in combination or by itself, does not constitute a telehealth service for the purposes of this chapter. [L 1998, c 278, §3; am L 2006, c 219, §3; am L 2009, c 20, §4]

 

Note

 

  L 1998, c 278, §5 provides:

  "SECTION 5.  Nothing in this Act shall preclude any health professional, within the scope of the health professional's practice, from employing the technology of telehealth within the health professional's practice.  Such action shall not be interpreted as practicing medicine without a license."

 

Cross References

 

  Practice of telemedicine, see §453-1.3.