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02/23/2022

OSMA Assembles Physician Telehealth Experts to Offer Medical Board a Real-Life Perspective

 

 

Advocacy Spotlight: 

OSMA’s advocacy team works day in and day out to represent the voice of Ohio physicians to state and federal policymakers. A big part of this work involves helping policymakers understand the practical implications of legislation and rule changes.

And we recently did just that with House Bill 122, Ohio’s new telehealth law.

Once House Bill 122 passed in December 2021, and the Medical Board was charged with drafting rules to support the new law, OSMA quickly reached out to physician practices, health systems, and specialty medical associations to find physician telehealth experts who could offer insights and guidance to the Medical Board throughout the rule drafting process. 

Our newly formed Physician Telehealth Rules Work Group is comprised of physicians who specialize in dermatology, vascular surgery, internal medical, psychiatry, and family medicine—specialties where telehealth plays a big role in providing patient care. Because these physicians utilize telehealth daily, they have been able to provide the medical board with valuable opinions and insights about the new draft rules and how the rules will play out in real life scenarios. The Medical Board has been very receptive to the group’s feedback and have adjusted the draft rules per many of the group’s suggestions.

OSMA appreciates the time these physicians have taken out of their busy schedules to participate in the work group. As you may know, the Medical Board is made up of nine physicians and three consumer members. Not all the physicians on the Medical Board utilize telehealth, so it has been important for them to hear the perspective of physicians who will be working under the Board’s rules.

We know from experience that when physicians are involved in the regulatory process from the beginning, the final rules are better for practices and patients! 

Based on feedback from the OSMA-led physician telehealth rules work group, the board, at its February 9 meeting, approved an initial draft of the telehealth rules. If you have additional perspectives to provide on telehealth regulation, comments on the draft are due on March 1, 2022.

 View draft telehealth rules & comment >

 


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