The Governor’s signature on PA 15-88 establishes several important requirements for the appropriate use of telehealth and ensures that such services will be integrated into the patient’s medical records. PA 15-88 supports an important initiative for the future of health care in Connecticut, and allows patients to have another option to access quality health care without having to leave the state. This is about care delivery, care access, care quality, and care safety and keeping medical care in Connecticut.
Increasingly, with the transformation of our health care system and with the advent of new technologies, physicians and other health care professionals are spending more time providing services to patients outside of the traditional face-to-face encounter in an office setting. Telehealth services, provided properly to Connecticut’s residents, can offer a cost-effective and efficient approach to the provision of timely, medically necessary care. That care must, however, be provided safely and use appropriate communication services that offer patient privacy, security, and confidentiality protections. It is also critical to ensure that the treating physician has access to patient information in advance of care delivery.
Telemedicine services can supplement, but should never supplant, the face-to-face care provided by a caring Connecticut physician or other health care professional.
Contact:
Kelly Gilbert Raskauskas
CSMS Director of Communications
203-865-0587 x110
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