CPCA - Policy Advocacy

Need an account?

Forgot your password?

Telehealth

Home > Policy & Advocacy >Health Information Technology > Telehealth

Overview
Current Advocacy
Resources
Announcements
CPCA Staff Contact

Current as of June 11, 2010

OVERVIEW

California’s CCHCs have long utilized a variety of telehealth tools to deliver care to their patients. Telehealth provides an efficient means to connect patients and providers, patients to health equipment monitored by health care providers, providers to learning opportunities, and general connectivity.

To learn more about telehealth, visit the California Telemedicine and eHealth Center.

CURRENT ADVOCACY

California Telehealth Network

CPCA is a member of the California Telehealth Network (CTN) Interim Advisory Board. The CTN is the product of an unprecedented statewide coalition of healthcare, technology, government, and other stakeholders, that drafted a proposal in spring 2007 to the Federal Communications Commission. Under the FCC's Rural Health Care Pilot Program - with the goal of significantly increasing access to acute, primary and preventive health care in rural America - the FCC will provide California with up to $22.1 million over three years. Additional funds for the CTN have been provided by the California Emerging Technology Fund and UnitedHealth/PacifiCare.

The CTN project intends to leverage and build upon California's historic and recent investments in telehealth. In recent years, a number of exciting initiatives have been launched in California to advance the use of telecommunications and health care technology. Significant among these are Governor Schwarzenegger's Health Information Technology (HIT) Executive Order (S-12-06, signed July 2006), which allocated $240 million to achieve full information exchange between health care providers and stakeholders within ten years, and his Broadband Executive Order (S-23-06, signed November 2006), which established a broadband task force to promote broadband access and usage. Also important are efforts of the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF), California's Telemedicine & eHealth Center's regional eHealth networks, the California Teleconnect Fund (administered by the California Public Utilities Commission), and the University of California's Proposition 1D funding.

California Telehealth Network Power Point Presentation: Provides an overview of the project, partners, technical components, and the different between the pilot program and the traditional USAC program.

Telemedicine Q and A’s

One policy and advocacy tool that CPCA uses are Q and A’s. CPCA takes a question that there is no clear answer for, and creates the answer that meets the interests of CCHCs. CPCA created a Q and A on telemedicine reimbursement that has been forwarded to the Department of Health Care Services. All but the last Q and A have been approved. We are still waiting for approval of the final Q and A.

View Q and A’s, click here. (members only)

Specialty Care Safety Net Initiative

CPCA provided consultation at the request of the Center for Connected Health Policy on the formation of their Specialty Care Safety Net Initiative.
Through a Center for Connected Health Policy supported “laboratory”, UC specialists will provide specialty consultation services to primary care providers in safety net clinics. The laboratory environment will provide the following:

Access to Specialty Care: The CCHP will purchase specialty clinic time for telemedicine consultation from the University of California for the exclusive use of the SCSNI designated clinics. As a result, clinic participants will receive increased access to specialty care provided via telemedicine and telehealth technologies in the following: Endocrinology, Neurology, Psychiatry, Hepatology, non-surgical Orthopedics, and Dermatology.
Technical Support: The CCHP has contracted with a technical support consultant to provide user and patient presentation training and troubleshooting assistance for project implementation and throughout the duration of the project.
Access to CME: Up to 45 Continuing Medical Education sessions will be tailored to the needs of the SCSNI clinics, and provided via web-based on-demand video streaming in the above mentioned specialty areas.
Participation in a Statewide Effort to analyze policy and scope of practice impediments to wide spread telehealth adoption by primary and specialty care sites.

For more information, visit the CCHP site.

RESOURCES

CPCA Documents

Websites

Publications

ANNOUNCEMENTS

No announcements at this time.

CPCA STAFF CONTACT

If you have any questions, or need more information, please contact Andie Martinez, Associate Director of Policy at 916-440-8170 ext. 1075 or amartinez@cpca.org.