Good news for supporters of telemedicine, innovators in medicine, and providers concerned with good and efficient care: New York State... new legislation is putting forth strong reimbursement and regulatory support for telemedicine and telehealth in the state.

New York State's Governor Cuomo just signed a new law that allows NY providers to bill for live video/audio, store-and-forward, and remote patient monitoring from private insurers and Medicaid. The new rules go into effect on January 1, 2016.

Since we wouldn't expect anything else from formal legislation, well, there are some grey areas and confusing parts. That said, the bill represents strong and unequivocal progress for telemedicine. The key points include:

• The main thing is that multiple categories of telemedicine and telehealth must be covered by private insurers and Medicaid:
  • Types of telemedicine and telehealth include (but aren't limited to): 2-way real-time audio/video, store-and-forward telemedicine (this would include iClickCare, which is a Hybrid Store-and-Forward® telemedicine platform), monitoring of patients' conditions, education, medication management, etc. 
  • Eligible providers include hospitals, home care and hospice agencies, licensed physicians, PAs, dentists, nursing, midwives, podiatrists, optometrists, ophthalmic dispensers, psychologists, social workers, or speech language pathology and audiologists.
• There are no restrictions on the patient or the origination of the telemedicine consult.

As a New York State based telemedicine company, we're thrilled!  In particular, we're pleased that the law, as it does in so many other states, explicitly supports Hybrid Store-and-Forward telemedicine, which is what iClickCare is so passionate about.

If you're not sure what Hybrid Store-and-Forward® telemedicine is, though, or are comparing your options with other telemedicine tools, get our Quick Guide: