After a disappointing end to the 2024 legislative session, when Missouri’s policymakers missed the call for telemedicine reform, there’s reason to hold on to hope that 2025 will yield different results.
Once again, several bills have been filed that would drastically improve Missouri’s telemedicine laws. As I’ve written before, Missouri was one of the best places in the country for telemedicine a few short years ago. Patients and providers were given a plethora of options for how they communicated, which greatly expanded access to health services across Missouri. But after the emergency declaration for COVID-19 ended, Missouri reinstated a variety of measures that needlessly restrict telemedicine access.
According to a report from the Cicero Institute, Missouri’s telemedicine laws are lacking in three key areas. First, our state is not what Cicero calls “modality neutral.” What this means is that Missouri’s telemedicine laws don’t allow for several modes of communication that have shown to be successful in other states. At least one bill filed this year attempts to move our laws closer to modality neutral by allowing telemedicine services to be provided via audio-only (not video) technologies. This is something mental health providers are very interested in.
Second, Missouri restricts telemedicine access across state lines. If you’re in St. Louis and need a doctor, why shouldn’t you be able to see a provider over telemedicine who practices in Illinois? With so many Missourians struggling to find the healthcare they need, expanding telemedicine access to any licensed provider who’s willing to treat Missourians seems like it should be a no-brainer.
Finally, Missouri makes it unnecessarily difficult for providers to write prescriptions for their patients, especially if they’ve only ever seen them over telemedicine. The process is even more cumbersome if the provider is an advanced practice registered nurse (ARPN). Clarifying the prescribing process and making it easier for APRNs to treat patients via telemedicine should be a benefit to both patients and providers. Fortunately, there are several bills filed this year that tackle these issues.
It’s time for Missouri’s elected officials to recognize that it’s not 2019 anymore. Telemedicine has come an incredibly long way in recent years, yet Missouri’s laws still treat the service as if things are the same as they were pre-COVID-19. Hopefully, this is the year Missouri’s policymakers take notice and take the actions necessary to expand telemedicine access.
