Beazley unveils new resource to help clients track US state telehealth laws

Specialist insurer  Beazley has partnered with law firm BakerHostetler to offer a new resource to help its clients track rapidly changing and fragmented state laws governing the provision of telehealth services across the US.

The offering takes the form of a multi-layered interactive digital map, which provides detailed information on a state by state basis.

The map, which is accessible via Beazley’s website and Virtual Care customer portal, highlights regional variances in legislation and guidelines. It is designed to help brokers and telehealth professionals navigate the complexities of providing cross-state remote healthcare services.

It includes data points on all 50 states, including who can be a telehealth provider; practice standards; licensure requirements; accepted modalities; excluded services; additional reimbursement potential; potential COVID-19 waivers; and the existence of active patient compensation funds.

The map will be kept up to date as the regulatory landscape changes. Regulation has changed significantly since the start of the pandemic, Beazley noted, as state regulators responded to the surge in demand and need for remote healthcare.

Beazley has also made credentialing and re-credentialing checklists available for clients, to help telehealth professionals remain compliant and in the strongest position to mitigate and defend against claims.

These documents enable telehealth providers to ensure all processing of newly employed or prospective employees, physicians and other level practitioners meets compliance requirements thus reducing the risk of professional liability or malpractice claims.

The credentialing documents were designed in response to increasing concern among digital health and wellness leaders over their ability to recruit and check the credentials of practitioners. According to a Beazley report, titled Spotlight on: Digital Health and Wellness, this was among the biggest concerns for US industry leaders, alongside economic uncertainty.

Jennifer Schoenthal, Beazley virtual care global product leader, said: “Regulations around telehealth continue to shift as the sector matures and patient demand changes. The pandemic has created more layers of complexity as state and federal law have responded to meet demand for telehealth services. These include the temporary relaxation of HIPAA rules to facilitate remote consultations, relaxation on licensing laws to allow providers to operate in and across multiple states, and increased reimbursement potential.”

She added: “The telehealth sector is experiencing strong growth; we want to ensure we provide the insurance and risk management these businesses need to realise their potential.”

Lynn Sessions, partner at BakerHostetler, said: “Our interactive map is intended to help the healthcare, insurance and legal communities to understand how one state differs from another in defining and regulating telemedicine, a form of healthcare that has experienced extremely rapid growth as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

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