Is Missouri ready to reclaim its spot as a national leader in telemedicine? The numerous Missourians still struggling with healthcare access would certainly hope so.
Missouri used to be a leader in telemedicine. During the pandemic, various rules and regulations that stifled telemedicine access were waived, and in their absence, the service grew immensely popular. But today, the waivers have long since expired, and telemedicine is once again too difficult to access. All that has to happen to return Missouri to the top of the national pack on telemedicine access is for the state’s legislature to act.
A little more than a month ago, the Cicero Institute put out a report grading each state on telemedicine access, and offered specific reforms that would help states move up the rankings. Cicero’s conclusions for Missouri were in line with what my colleagues and I have written before: it’s currently too difficult to get some prescriptions via telemedicine, and it should be easier for healthcare providers who aren’t specifically physicians in Missouri to care for Missourians via telemedicine.
Fortunately, there are several bills being considered in this legislative session that would significantly improve Missouri’s telemedicine laws. One approach would make it easier to establish the physician–patient relationship virtually. This would in turn make it easier for providers to prescribe medications to patients they’d never seen in person.
Another approach expands the definition of “telehealth services” to include audio-only technologies. Not everyone has access to a computer, phone, or internet that is capable of transmitting video. Further, not every medical service that could be provided virtually requires the provider to see the patient visually. For example, some psychologists may be able to safely care for patients over the phone.
Perhaps most importantly, both approaches are currently allowed by Medicare in some circumstances and were allowed in Missouri when the telemedicine waivers were in effect a few years ago. None of this is to say that there aren’t some situations where telemedicine treatment may not be appropriate, or that there may be times when an audio-only visit isn’t sufficient. But when telemedicine can safely and appropriately provide a service, Missourians ought to be able to choose that option. Missouri has several years of firsthand data showing that telemedicine access can be expanded without sacrificing patient safety, and more states are recognizing the benefits of the service.
Missouri’s lawmakers should act soon because the state’s healthcare access problem isn’t going away, and expanding telemedicine services is one of the best ways to address it.
