I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 691 

To promote the provision of telehealth by establishing a Federal standard 

for telehealth, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 3, 2015 

Ms. MATSUI (for herself and Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To promote the provision of telehealth by establishing a 

Federal standard for telehealth, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Telehealth Moderniza5 tion Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Telehealth technologies can transform 

9 health care delivery by improving access to quality 

10 care by removing traditional barriers to health care 


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1 delivery such as distance, mobility, and time con2 straints. 

3 (2) Telehealth is a mode of delivering health 

4 care utilizing information and communication tech5 nologies to enable the diagnosis, consultation, treat6 ment, and care management of patients by health 

7 care providers. 

8 (3) The use of information and telecommuni9 cation technologies to deliver health care has the po10 tential to reduce costs, improve quality, change con11 ditions of practice, and improve access to health 

12 care, particularly in rural and medically underserved 

13 areas. 

14 (4) A lack of primary care providers, specialty 

15 providers, and transportation continues to be a sig16 nificant barrier to access to health care in medically 

17 underserved rural and urban areas. 

18 (5) Parts of the Nation have difficulty attract19 ing and retaining health care professionals, as well 

20 as supporting local health facilities to provide a con21 tinuum of health care. 

22 (6) Many health care providers in medically un23 derserved areas are isolated from mentors, col24 leagues, and the information resources necessary to 

25 support them personally and professionally. 


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1 (7) A patchwork of State regulatory environ2 ments poses legal and regulatory hurdles that are in3 hibiting the proliferation of private-sector telehealth 

4 innovations and have created significant uncertainty 

5 for the telehealth community. 

6 (8) As of June 2013, 40 out of 50 States have 

7 introduced legislation addressing telehealth policy, 

8 with wide variations in how telehealth is defined. 

9 (9) To help clarify this uncertainty and provide 

10 States with appropriate guidance, Congress should 

11 provide a workable Federal definition of telehealth 

12 that ensures the highest common denominator of 

13 care while facilitating future innovation. 

14 (10) The fundamental health care provider-pa15 tient relationship cannot only be preserved through 

16 a Federal definition of telehealth, but also can be es17 tablished, augmented, and enhanced through the use 

18 of telehealth. 

19 SEC. 3. FEDERAL STANDARD FOR TELEHEALTH. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—If a State authorizes a health care 

21 professional to deliver health care to an individual, the 

22 State should also authorize the health care professional 

23 to deliver such health care to such individual through tele24 health, subject to the conditions specified in subsection 

25 (b). 


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1 (b) CONDITIONS.—The following are conditions for 

2 the delivery of health care through telehealth by a health 

3 care professional to an individual that States should con4 sider adopting: 

5 (1) ACCESSIBILITY AND REVIEW OF MEDICAL

6 HISTORY.—The health care professional should have 

7 access to the medical history of the individual, and 

8 should review such medical history with the indi9 vidual, to the same extent that the health care pro10 fessional would have access to such medical history 

11 and would review such medical history if delivering 

12 the health care in person. 

13 (2) IDENTIFICATION OF UNDERLYING CONDI14 TIONS AND CONTRAINDICATIONS.—To the extent 

15 practicable, the health care professional should at16 tempt to identify the conditions underlying the 

17 symptoms, if any, reported by the individual before 

18 such professional provides any diagnosis or treat19 ment to the individual. In the case that the health 

20 care professional recommends a treatment to the in21 dividual, the health care professional should review 

22 with the individual the contraindications to the rec23 ommended treatment. 

24 (3) DIAGNOSIS.—Subject to the professional 

25 discretion of the health care professional, such proVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:06 Feb 11, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H691.IH H691

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1 fessional should have a conversation with the indi2 vidual adequate to establish any diagnosis rendered. 

3 (4) DOCUMENT EVALUATION, MEDICAL

4 RECORDS, AND PROVISION OF MEDICAL INFORMA5 TION.—The health care professional should docu6 ment the evaluation and treatment delivered to the 

7 individual, if any, for the purpose of generating a 

8 medical record of the encounter. At the option of the 

9 individual, the health care professional should— 

10 (A) provide the individual with medical in11 formation, in standard medical record format, 

12 about such evaluation and treatment; and 

13 (B) send any documentation concerning 

14 such evaluation and treatment to one or more 

15 selected health care professionals responsible 

16 for the care of the individual. 

17 (5) TRANSPARENCY REGARDING PROFESSIONAL

18 CREDENTIALS.—At the option of the individual, the 

19 health care professional should provide to the indi20 vidual, in electronic and paper format, information 

21 regarding the health care education, certification, 

22 and credentials of the health care professional. 

23 (6) NO ASSURANCE CONCERNING ITEMS OR

24 SERVICES.—The health care professional should 

25 offer no assurance to the individual that any item or 


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1 service, including a prescription, will be issued or 

2 provided— 

3 (A) in exchange for the payment of the 

4 consultation fee charged by the health care pro5 fessional; or 

6 (B) solely in response to the individual 

7 completing a form or questionnaire. 

8 (7) PRESCRIPTION REQUIREMENTS.—Any pre9 scription issued by the health care professional as 

10 part of the health care delivered to the individual 

11 should meet the following requirements: 

12 (A) The prescription is issued for a legiti13 mate medical purpose in the usual course of 

14 professional practice. 

15 (B) The prescription is issued by a health 

16 care professional who has obtained a medical 

17 history and conducted an evaluation of the indi18 vidual to whom such prescription is issued ade19 quate to establish a diagnosis. 

20 (C) The prescription is not for a drug or 

21 substance in schedule II, III, or IV of section 

22 202(c) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 

23 U.S.C. 812(c)). 

24 (D) The prescription is filled by an appro25 priately licensed dispensing entity. 


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1 (c) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall be 

2 construed to— 

3 (1) change the application of the HIPAA pri4 vacy regulation (as defined in section 1180(b)(3) of 

5 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320d–9(b)(3))) 

6 with respect to a health care professional’s provision 

7 of telehealth; or 

8 (2) affect the standard of care for medical or 

9 clinical appropriateness as established by State law 

10 or policy. 

11 (d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

12 (1) TELEHEALTH.—The term ‘‘telehealth’’ 

13 means, with respect to health care that a health care 

14 professional is authorized to deliver to an individual 

15 in person under State law, such health care delivered 

16 by such health care professional to such individual 

17 not in person, from any location to any other loca18 tion, and by means of real-time video, secure chat or 

19 secure email, or integrated telephony. 

20 (2) HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL.—The term 

21 ‘‘health care professional’’ means, with respect to 

22 health care, a physician or practitioner who is au23 thorized under law to deliver such health care in per24 son. 

Æ 


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