Wiki Out of Country Telehealth visit?

[dogwhisperer36]

Hi. We have an NP who is asking if she can provide a telehealth visit to someone who is in the UK. This would be a NEW patient, and she technically lives in the same state as the provider; however, is away at school in the UK.

My thought is that she needs to check with her malpractice insurance to see if allowed and we go from there. Has anyone else had this scenario come up?

Thank you,

Tara

 

[Brenda1973]

I code Telehealth and there is a lot to the licensure of the provider. She would have to be licensed in the UK for absolute sure. Then there are some insurance companies that require she document her physical location (state) during the encounter. I understand this patient lives in the same state as the provider but this patient is currently out of state and the provider is most likely not licensed in the UK. I do not recommend this provider bill for a visit in the UK.

 

[trarut]

I agree with Brenda1973's comments above. Do not see the patient unless you plan to do so for free. Also look at your State Medical Board for guidance on telehealth. State law supercedes CMS rules regarding provider and patient location. Ohio requires both the provider and the patient to be in the state for a telehealth service. This was a problem for some of our patients because we have a lot of snowbirds and they wanted to have telehealth visits while down south.

 

[mnuhfer04]

I agree with Brenda1973's comments above. Do not see the patient unless you plan to do so for free. Also look at your State Medical Board for guidance on telehealth. State law supercedes CMS rules regarding provider and patient location. Ohio requires both the provider and the patient to be in the state for a telehealth service. This was a problem for some of our patients because we have a lot of snowbirds and they wanted to have telehealth visits while down south.

This is a scenario that I am dealing with at the moment. We have a patient who goes to Florida for the winter, they are a worker's comp through the Department of Labor in NY. Our provider wants to provide telehealth services while they are in Florida. I was always had the understanding that they have to be licensed in that state, but I wasn't sure if Workers comp/Department of Labor had different rules.

 

[trarut]

This is a scenario that I am dealing with at the moment. We have a patient who goes to Florida for the winter, they are a worker's comp through the Department of Labor in NY. Our provider wants to provide telehealth services while they are in Florida. I was always had the understanding that they have to be licensed in that state, but I wasn't sure if Workers comp/Department of Labor had different rules.

I had to search this out of curiosity and they don't seem to have anything published on their website https://www.wcb.ny.gov/telehealth/. Have you reached the point of calling the DOL to ask? It looks like New York state does allow patients to be out of state for certain services (mental health is what I kept finding) but I wasn't able to find much more beyond that.

 

[mnuhfer04]

I had to search this out of curiosity and they don't seem to have anything published on their website https://www.wcb.ny.gov/telehealth/. Have you reached the point of calling the DOL to ask? It looks like New York state does allow patients to be out of state for certain services (mental health is what I kept finding) but I wasn't able to find much more beyond that.

Mental health is all I've found as well. I am probably going to have to reach out to them directly. I did find a link on the Florida Board of Medicine (this is where our patient will be) that lets outside states apply for, it looks like, a temporary license for telehealth services. I'll do some more digging.