Telehealth in Alaska & Telemedicine
COVID-19 Updates
The Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association is offering the Alaska Quick Start Guide to Telehealth Toolkit.
This quick start guide is for health care facilities and providers who wish to implement simple web-based video to interact with their patients. The information is Alaska specific and will be updated as new information becomes available.
Information for Consumers
What is telemedicine?
Telemedicine refers to the practice of caring for a patient when the patient and provider are not physically together. It allows healthcare providers to evaluate, diagnose and treat patients using technology such as video conferencing and smartphones without the need for an in-person visit.
What is the difference between telehealth and telemedicine?
The term telemedicine refers specifically to remote clinical services. Telehealth is a broader term that includes telemedicine, but can also refer to non-clinical services like using technology for preventative, educational, and health-related administrative activities.
How does Telehealth benefit Alaskans?
Telehealth increases Alaskans’ access to health care. Telemedicine is designed to bring convenient high quality primary health care and specialty services to Alaskans. It can bring more timely services when your need is urgent and severe in nature, and the follow-up care can be done right in your home town in many instances. Alaskans’ benefit from telemedicine consults with primary care providers or remotely located medical specialists such as behavioral health via videoconferencing. Telehealth also enables training opportunities between specialists outside of Alaska and providers in-state, which in turn raises the quality of care in Alaska.
It doesn’t seem like patients could receive the same level of quality of care as they would receive in and in-person encounter.
This issue has been debated and studied at the National level by physicians, hospitals, and telemedicine providers for several years. After much debate and studies, it has been determined that telemedicine delivers virtually the same quality of care as the in-person encounters. Patient and provider satisfaction has been very high. Third-party payers (Medicaid, Medicare, private insurance) have deemed telemedicine services to be of sufficiently high quality to be reimbursed at the same rate as an in-person visit.
What is an Electronic Health Record?
An Electronic Health Record (EHR) is software that allows patient medical information to be stored, edited and retrieved on a computer. EHRs contain the same information as a traditional medical chart maintained by health care providers. EHRs allow patient information to be retrieved more quickly and analyzed more completely. EHRs improve patient safety, health care access, and coordinated treatment between providers, while maintaining compliance with HIPAA privacy and security rules.
Information for Providers
Who are the telehealth providers in Alaska?
There are a growing number of telehealth users in Alaska. There are over 250 current Telemedicine Business Registry licenses in Alaska. The Telehealth Business License Registry was enacted on June 21, 2016 by law SB74. The Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development’s Professional Licensing Section established regulations for the telemedicine business registry, where the program is administratively housed and maintained. All businesses engaged in or planning to engage in telemedicine services must register with this Department.
How do I become a licensed telemedicine provider?
Please visit the Telemedicine Business Registry website and complete an application.
What is the Alaska Federal Health Care Access Network?
As the name implies, this is a telemedicine network developed specifically to serve federal beneficiaries in Alaska. It uses a “store-and-forward" technology. It was originally developed as an entity of the Alaska Federal Health Care Partnership (AFHCP), funded primarily through the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC); it is now managed and organizationally part of ANTHC. The member organizations for AFHCAN include: ANTHC, Indian Health Service, Department of Defense, Coast Guard, Veteran’s Administration, and State of Alaska (through the Section of Public Health Nursing). Visit the AFHNAN website.
How are telemedicine services reimbursed?
A service delivered via telehealth is reimbursed at the same rate as the same service delivered in a face-to-face setting. For example, Alaska Medicaid currently reimburses for services provided through one of these three telemedicine modes:
Other insurance providers may have different services, modes and rates specific to their own requirements.
Helpful resources for providers