                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

STATEWIDE TELEHEALTH PLAN (§ 32.1-122.03:1)

A. As used in this section:
			&#8220;Remote patient monitoring services&#8221; has the same meaning as in
&#xA7; 38.2-3418.16.
			&#8220;Telehealth services&#8221; means the use of telecommunications and
information technology to provide access to health assessments, diagnosis,
intervention, consultation, supervision, and information across distance.
&#8220;Telehealth services&#8221; includes the use of such technologies as
telephones, facsimile machines, electronic mail systems, store-and-forward
technologies, and remote patient monitoring devices that are used to collect and
transmit patient data for monitoring and interpretation. Nothing in this
definition shall be construed or interpreted to amend the appropriate
establishment of a bona fide practitioner-patient relationship, as defined in
&#xA7; 54.1-3303.
			&#8220;Telemedicine services&#8221; has the same meaning as in &#xA7;
38.2-3418.16.

B. The Board shall amend and maintain, in consultation with the Virginia
Telehealth Network, as a component of the State Health Plan a Statewide
Telehealth Plan to promote an integrated approach to the introduction and use of
telehealth services and telemedicine services. The Board shall contract with the
Virginia Telehealth Network, or another Virginia-based nongovernmental,
nonprofit organization focused on telehealth if the Virginia Telehealth Network
is no longer in existence, to (i) provide direct consultation to any advisory
groups and groups tasked by the Board with implementation and data collection as
required by this section, (ii) track implementation of the Statewide Telehealth
Plan, and (iii) facilitate changes to the Statewide Telehealth Plan as accepted
medical practices and technologies evolve.

C. The Statewide Telehealth Plan shall include but not be limited to provisions
for:

   1. The promotion of the inclusion of telehealth services and telemedicine
   services in the operating procedures of hospitals, primary care facilities,
   public primary and secondary schools, state-funded post-secondary schools,
   emergency medical services agencies, and such other state agencies and
   practices deemed necessary by the Board;

   2. The promotion of the use of remote patient monitoring services and
   store-and-forward technologies, including in cases involving patients with
   chronic illness;

   3. A uniform and integrated set of proposed criteria for the use of telehealth
   technologies for prehospital and interhospital triage and transportation of
   patients initiating or in need of emergency medical services developed by the
   Board in consultation with the Department of Health Professions, the Virginia
   College of Emergency Physicians, the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare
   Association, the Virginia Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, the
   American Stroke Association, the American Telemedicine Association, and
   prehospital care providers. The Board may revise such criteria from time to
   time to incorporate accepted changes in medical practice and appropriate use
   of new and effective innovations in telehealth or telemedicine technologies,
   or to respond to needs indicated by analysis of data on patient outcomes. Such
   criteria shall be used as a guide and resource for health care providers and
   are not intended to establish, in and of themselves, standards of care or to
   abrogate the requirements of &#xA7; 8.01-581.20. A decision by a health care
   provider to deviate from the criteria shall not constitute negligence per se;

   4. A strategy for integration of the Statewide Telehealth Plan with the State
   Health Plan, the Statewide Emergency Medical Services Plan, the Statewide
   Trauma Triage Plan, and the Stroke Triage Plan to support the purposes of each
   plan;

   5. A strategy for the maintenance of the Statewide Telehealth Plan through (i)
   the development of an innovative payment model for emergency medical services
   that covers the transportation of a patient to a destination providing
   services of appropriate patient acuity and facilitates in-place treatment of a
   patient at the scene of an emergency response or via telehealth services and
   telemedicine services, where appropriate; (ii) the development of
   collaborative and uniform operating procedures for establishing and recording
   informed patient consent for the use of telehealth services and telemedicine
   services that are easily accessible by those medical professionals engaging in
   telehealth services and telemedicine services; and (iii) appropriate liability
   protection for providers involved in such telehealth and telemedicine
   consultation and treatment; and

   6. A strategy for the collection of data regarding the use of telehealth
   services and telemedicine services in the delivery of inpatient and outpatient
   services, treatment of chronic illnesses, remote patient monitoring, and
   emergency medical services to determine the effect of use of telehealth
   services and telemedicine services on the medical service system in the
   Commonwealth, including (i) the potential for reducing unnecessary inpatient
   hospital stays, particularly among patients with chronic illnesses or
   conditions; (ii) the impact of the use of telehealth services and telemedicine
   services on patient morbidity, mortality, and quality of life; (iii) the
   potential for reducing unnecessary prehospital and interhospital transfers;
   and (iv) the impact on annual expenditures for health care services for all
   payers, including expenditures by third-party payers and out-of-pocket
   expenditures by patients.

HISTORY: 2020, c. 729; 2022, cc. 724, 742.