The American Medical Association has approved a list of guiding principles for ensuring the appropriate coverage of and payment for telemedicine services.
The principles, adopted at the organization's Annual Meeting in June, aim to help foster innovation in the use of telemedicine, protect the patient-physician relationship, and promote improved care coordination and communication with medical homes, a news release notes.
"We believe that a patient-physician relationship must be established to ensure proper diagnoses and appropriate follow-up care," AMA President Robert M. Wah, MD, noted. "This new policy establishes a foundation for physicians to utilize telemedicine to help maintain an ongoing relationship with their patients, and as a means to enhance follow-up care, better coordinate care, and manage chronic conditions."
The new principles follow a policy report addressing coverage and payment for telemedicine that was developed by the AMA's Council on Medical Service earlier this year.
"Whether a patient is seeing his or her physician in person or via telemedicine, the same standards of care for the patient must be maintained," Wahl said. "Telemedicine can strengthen the patient-physician relationship and improve access to receive care remotely, as medically appropriate,