New regulations expand telehealth in Kentucky

Changes in Kentucky's telehealth regulations will make it easier for a greater number of providers to deliver more healthcare services to Medicaid patients by video link, Public News Service of Kentucky reports. The state has been using telehealth since 2000, but according to Rob Sprang, the telehealth network's co-manager and director of Kentucky TeleCare, the old regulations were limiting. "The previous regulations were very restrictive on who could see a patient on television, what services they could deliver on TV, and where those services could be delivered," he told Public News Service. The new regulations dramatically expanded the list of providers who can see Medicaid patients and now includes social workers, speech language pathologists, physical therapists and occupational therapists. Article