Telemedicine legislation clears House committee
Legislation that would allow phone-based health care services in Arkansas, while restricting telemedicine in schools, cleared another hurdle Thursday when it won a favorable recommendation from a House committee.
Sponsored by West Memphis Democratic Rep. Deborah Ferguson, whose husband is a radiologist, House Bill 1437 would remove restrictions enacted by the Legislature in 2015 that have prevented Arkansans from being able to use smartphones or computers to receive diagnoses and prescriptions from doctors they have never met in person.
The bill also would create new restrictions for schools, requiring authorization from a child's primary-care physician before an exam could be conducted in a school using telemedicine.
That restriction came in response to concerns about a pilot project allowing pupils of Angie Grant Elementary School in Benton to receive video examinations, conducted in the school nurse's office, from a doctor with Arkansas Children's Hospital.
Read more: http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2017/feb/10/telemedicine-legislation-clears-house-c-1/