STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2324

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2469

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Health and Technology and the Arts, to which was referred S.B. No. 2469 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TELEHEALTH,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Require reimbursement for services provided through telehealth to be equivalent to reimbursement for the same services provided via face-to-face contact between a health care provider and a patient;

     (2)  Clarify that a health care provider of telehealth includes primary care providers, mental health providers, and oral health providers; and

     (3)  Amend references from "telemedicine" to "telehealth" throughout the Hawaii Revised Statutes.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Governor, Department of Health, State Council on Developmental Disabilities, Healthcare Association of Hawaii, Hawaii State Center for Nursing, Community Alliance for Mental Health, The Queen's Health Systems, Hawaii Medical Association, Hawaii Health Systems Corporation, American Association of Nurse Practitioners, Witt Counseling Service, Hawaii Association of Professional Nurses, Hawaii Pacific Health, and several individuals.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Human Services, Hawaii Medical Board, and Hawaii Medical Service Association.

     Your Committees find that the effective use of telehealth is essential to improve access to care in Hawaii, where the island geography presents the State with unique challenges.  This measure will assist in the delivery of enhanced statewide health care services, increase access to services, and provide timely information to patients and health care providers.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by inserting an effective date of January 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Technology and the Arts that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2469, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2469, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Technology and the Arts,

____________________________ GLENN WAKAI, Chair

____________________________ JOSH GREEN, Chair