Increasing Access to Behavioral Health Care

Telepsychiatry can be used to augment behavioral health services in a variety of facilities including hospitals, federally qualified health centers, community clinics, correctional facilities, outpatient offices, primary care offices, crisis centers, schools, geriatric facilities and more. 

Reimbursement 

• Medicaid 
  • FL Medicaid reimburses for real time, two-way, interactive telemedicine 
• Medicare 
  • Medicare only reimburses for telehealth services that are provided to a patient at one of 11 outlined originating sites and that site has to be located in a health professional shortage area (HPSA) or a county outside a metropolitan statistical area (MSA).  
    • Use the following link to determine if your site is eligible for Medicare reimbursement: https://data.hrsa.gov/tools/medicare/telehealth  
• Private Payers 
  • There’s no parity law in place but insurers and providers can agree on payment rates and payment methodologies for telehealth delivered services 

Telemedicine Prescribing 

• Florida only allows the prescribing of controlled substances via telehealth if the substance is being prescribed for: 
  • The treatment of a psychiatric disorder 
  • Inpatient treatment at a hospital 
  • Treatment of a patient receiving hospice services 
  • Treatment of a nursing home resident  

Cross State Licensing 

• Clinicians need to hold a Florida license in order to provide telepsychiatry services to patients located in Florida 
• Florida is not yet a member of the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (IMLC) 
• Florida is a member of the Nurse Licensure Compact 

Helpful Resources 

• Center for Connected Health Policy: https://www.cchpca.org/ 
• Center for Telehealth & e-Health Law: http://ctel.org/ 
• Southeastern Telehealth Resource Center: https://www.setrc.us/