NEWS

State Medical Assn. calls house bill bad

Jimmie E. Gates
Clarion Ledger

The Mississippi State Medical Association calls a House bill to allow audio-only telemedicine bad legislation.

Mims, R-McComb, filed bill to allow phone-only telemedicine.

"It's like practicing while wearing a blindfold," said Dr. Dan Edney, president of the Mississippi Medical Association. "The House has passed a bad bill and we are asking the Senate to fix it,"

Edney said Thursday that House Bill 1178 is designed to allow a Texas-based company to use doctors from anywhere in the world to diagnose common ailments over the phone and prescribe a quick fix for quick cash.

House Bill 1178 adds audio to telemedicine services in the state.

The bill says telemedicinne is a "delivery of health care services such as diagnosis, consultation, or treatment by a physician located at a site other than the patient through the use of interactive audio, video, or other electronic media, and is not a separate form of medicine."

The legislation says when a patient initiates a consultation with a company, organization or other entity providing telemedicine services, the company, organization or entity must have the ability and provide the option to offer telemedicine services to the patient through communication methods other than by telephone only.

" A company, organization or other entity providing telemedicine services must have the ability to offer multiple forms of telemedicine services and cannot be solely telephone services," the bill says. "The cost of telemedicine services must be the same to the patient regardless of which communication method is used to provide the services."

Edney said Mississippi physicians support telemedicine when done the right way, and physicians know how to properly use the phone to assist patients.

"We do oppose bad telemedicine," Edney said. "And, audio-only is bad telemedicine."

Charlie Ross, a former state senator, said Thursday he represents Teledoc, national company that allows a person to consult with a doctor via phone.

We need to reduce barriers; Mississippians are under-served in healthcare," Ross said. "Mississippi physicians routinely consult with patients they haven't seen in years over the phone."

Ross said the doctor would have to be licensed in Mississippi to provide the service.

However, Dr. Sam Crosby, president of the Mississippi Academy of Family Physicians, said the bill is bad medicine because it lets the out-of-state company off the hook.

"They are not responsible for their patients outcome or the patient's follow-up care," Crosby said.

Edney said House Bill 1178 requires the doctor to have a Mississippi license, but can live anywhere from Portland to Paris.

He said the bill is bad medicine for three reasons:

  • It promotes insufficient care
  • It sends local money out-of-state
  • The poor has no better access to medical care

State Rep. Sam Mims, R-McComb, said he filed the bill to provide more access to healthcare for people in rural areas who may not have access to a regular physician.

Contact Jimmie E. Gates at (601) 961-7212 or jgates@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @jgatesnews on Twitter.