Medical boards draft plan to allow greater use of telemedicine

Amid predictions of a growing doctor shortage, state medical boards have drafted a model law that would make it easier for physicians licensed in one state to treat patients in others, whether in person, by videoconference or online. Meanwhile, former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius acknowledges she made mistakes in the health law's rollout by spending "too little time clearly on the technology side."

The New York Times: Medical Boards Draft Plan To Ease Path To Out-of-State And Online Treatment
Officials representing state medical boards across the country have drafted a model law that would make it much easier for doctors licensed in one state to treat patients in other states, whether in person, by videoconference or online. The plan, representing the biggest change in medical licensing in decades, opens the door to greater use of telemedicine and could alleviate the doctor shortage, a growing problem as millions of people gain insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act (Pear, 6/29).

USA Today: Supply Won't Meet Growing Demand For Primary Care
Federally funded programs will add at least 2,300 new primary care practitioners by the end of 2015, but the funding for at least one of those programs is set to expire at the same time, contributing to a massive shortage of doctors available to treat patients -; including those newly insured through the Affordable Care Act and Medicare. The U.S. is expected to need 52,000 more primary care physicians by 2025, according to a study by the Robert Graham Center, which does family medicine policy research. But funding for teaching hospitals that could train thousands more of these doctors expires in late 2015 (Krasselt and O'Donnell, 6/29). 

Politico: Kathleen Sebelius: I 'Made Some Mistakes'
Former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius acknowledged Friday that she made mistakes leading up to the rollout of the Affordable Care Act, worrying too much about whether there'd be a market for Obamacare and spending "too little time clearly on the technology side." "I sure made some mistakes along the way in terms of focusing on some things and not on others," she said at the Aspen Ideas Festival. Instead of confirming what she was being told about HealthCare.gov's readiness "was actually accurate and getting enough eyes and ears on that," she said she concentrated on the insurers, consumers and regulators who needed to come together in the health exchanges (Villacorta, 6/27).