Grants and Contracts Details
Description
Kentucky Telecare at the University of Kentucky (UK) is excited to be a part of the HRSA Regional Telehealth
Resource Center Grant with the University of Virginia. Kentucky Telecare has been an active Telehealth
program since 1995, and we believe that our participation will contribute in several ways to the mission of the
project to help Telehealth programs in the Mid-Atlantic Region and beyond.
Kentucky was an early leader in the passage of Telehealth legislation that helped legitimize Telehealth in the
state .. Prior to 2000, Kentucky's Medicaid program would not recognize Telehealth as a reimbursable service
and so providers were not compensated for seeing patients via the technology.. Commercial health insurance
providers followed Medicaid's lead and also did not reimburse for Telehealth encounters Kentucky Telecare
pressed for legislation in the 2000 legislative session that mandated Medicaid and commercial health
insurance reimbursement for Telehealth, creation of a statewide Telehealth initiative with governing Board of
Directors and the development of 4 regional Telehealth Training Centers to promote the Telehealth within the
state .. The legislation passed in 2000 and was enacted that year .. The new Kentucky TeleHealth Network now
includes over 250 sites, including all three medical schools, hospitals, clinics, public health departments,
school clinics, state psychiatric hospitals, state health agencies and community mental health centers
Another area that Kentucky's experience could be helpful to other programs is the use of Telehealth
technology in an industrial workplace. Many Telehealth programs pursue contract work with self-insured
organizations to avoid the reimbursement limitations inherent with traditional Medicare/Medicaid/Commercial
Health Insurance providers.. Self-insured companies are able to leverage Telehealth for the benefit of
employees and prisons are able to contract for Telehealth services outside traditional insurance.. Kentucky
Telecare has helped a large coal company utilize Telehealth at coal mines and corporate offices in six states
connect to a centrally located medical director.. UK also has a long-standing contract with the Federal Prison
System to provide clinical services via Telehealth.
Both of these areas of expertise should be helpful to other programs as they face the challenges of
reimbursement and of developing sustainable activities that will help their program achieve long-term financial
success.. Kentucky Telecare looks forward to becoming a partner in this multi-state resource center, imparting
our experience on others and gaining knowledge from those who have done their own pioneering work.
Status | Finished |
---|---|
Effective start/end date | 9/1/12 → 8/31/13 |
Funding
- University of Virginia: $11,920.00
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