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MSU Releases Results of Study on Telemedicine in Michigan

EAST LANSING, Mich.-As the legislature grapples with broadband legislation, Michigan State University's Institute for Public Policy and Social Research (IPPSR) announces the availability of a new report on telemedicine, an area of health care that relies on telecommunication infrastructure.

Telemedicine is the use of telecommunications technologies and electronic information to provide long-distance clinical care, health-related education, and public health and health administration. It is involved in many fields of medicine, including primary care, radiology, pathology, dermatology and psychiatry.

The report, which is authored by Pamela Whitten, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Telecommuni-cation at MSU, provides an overview of telemedicine in the state of Michigan including what barriers exist, approaches that other states have tried, and specific recommendations. The recommendations were developed by The Working Group on Telemedicine Policy for Michigan-a bipartisan team of twenty-nine physicians, nurses, health administrators, insurance providers, and policy experts that is headed by Dr. Whitten.

Identified barriers to telemedicine deal with issues of licensure, credentials, and certification; payment and reimbursement; safety, standards of care, and liability; infrastructure; and, privacy, security, and confidentiality. Among the recommendations set forth by the working group are the creation of a task force to clarify licensure laws, and consider liability issues; a consortium to recommend reasonable guidelines for private insurers' treatment, and a working group to add telemedicine to health education curricula.

"Dr. Whitten's research is particularly timely given the current debate in the state legislature over enhancing broadband high-speed computer access in the state", said Carol Weissert, IPPSR Director. "We hope the information will be useful in providing legislators and officials with a balanced overview of a policy issue that is in various stages of development in many states across the country."

An executive summary (.pdf)* and the complete report (.pdf)* entitled "Telemedicine in Michigan: A Policy Report Addressing Legal and Regulatory Barriers," are available online.

This research is part of over $250,000 in applied state policy grants funded by the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research through dollars allocated by the State of Michigan. The research projects are aimed at developing expertise for Michigan's policy-making community. IPPSR is the nonpartisan public policy network at Michigan State University dedicated to connecting legislators, scholars, and practitioners through applied research, lively policy forums, and political leadership instruction. For current information on IPPSR activities visit the Institute online.

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*A link to the free plugin for viewing Adobe Acrobat Reader (.pdf) files
is available on the Institute's Plugin Information page.