Our Hospitals
The Doctor Will (Virtually) See You Now The use of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic has helped keep the health care wheels turning. By Erin Stewart
10
twentyfourseven Fall 2020
When the COVID-19 pandemic spread to Georgia in early 2020, hospitals knew immediately that they would have to be resourceful with the care and treatment of patients. With social-distancing guidelines in place that strongly urged people to stay 6 feet apart when in public, innovation was more important than ever. It was an ideal time to finally make the most of what telehealth had to offer. Telehealth had already been at the forefront of the minds of many health care providers, as well as members of the Georgia General Assembly. During the 2019 legislative session, two important bills passed and brought needed modifications to the state’s telehealth program. Senate Bill 118 revised the Georgia Telehealth Act to require every health benefit policy to include payment for telehealth services if the service was covered by the policy. Senate Bill 115 revised the “Medical Practice Act in the State of Georgia” to provide for telemedicine licenses for physicians licensed in other states to allow them to practice telemedicine in Georgia. Both pieces of legislation came at a time when policy makers and the health community knew telemedicine was a necessary and important part of providing care; however, no one could have predicted its necessity for what was to come: the COVID-19 pandemic.
