Groups urge Fla. legislators to expand telehealth

Some influential healthcare groups are urging Florida's state lawmakers to expand the use of telehealth—web and videoconferencing technology that allows physicians and other healthcare providers to treat patients—as a way to save money and deal with a growing shortage of physicians. Several powerful institutions, including Baptist Health South Florida, the Florida Hospital Association, and Associated Industries of Florida, held a conference in Tallahassee last week to build support for telehealth in advance of the 2015 legislative session.

Florida lawmakers discussed telehealth legislation during the 2014 legislative session, but disagreed on several key points, including whether out-of-state telehealth providers should be licensed in Florida, and who should be allowed to practice telehealth. The Florida House supported allowing a wide variety of healthcare professions to practice telehealth, but the Senate took a position supported by the Florida Medical Association that the practice should be limited to licensed physicians.

Source: Tampa Bay Times