State Telemedicine Policy Information

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Kentucky Telemedicine Policy

Kentucky Telemedicine Policy

Kentucky is a frontrunner in the expansion of telemedicine! Kentucky is one of only two state Medicaid programs that allow chiropractors to bill for telemedicine.

State Policy Overview

Medicaid

Yes

Private Payer

Yes

Parity

Yes

Additional State Telemedicine Info

Parity Laws

The Bluegrass State passed a private payer parity act back in 2000! This means that private payers in this state are legally obligated to cover telemedicine services the same as in-person medical services.

Medicaid

In April 2018, a parity law passed requiring telehealth coverage for Kentucky Medicaid patients. Currently, Kentucky Medicaid will reimburse for teleradiology as well as live video telemedicine.

However, the state is also in the process of establishing a pilot program to create reimbursement guidelines for telemonitoring services (started July 1, 2017).

Type Of Telemedicine Covered

Kentucky Medicaid covers live video telemedicine, but unfortunately does not yet reimburse for store-and-forward solutions or remote patient monitoring.

Covered Health Services

  • Kentucky Medicaid allows providers to deliver a variety of medical services via telemedicine, such as:

     
    • Standard consultations
    • Mental health evaluation and management services
    • Individual and group psychotherapy
    • Pharmacologic management
    • Psychiatric/psychological/mental health diagnostic interview examinations
    • Individual medical nutrition services
    • Teleradiology services
     

    Want more details? Check out the Kentucky State Medicaid Manual.

Eligible Healthcare Providers

Kentucky Medicaid allows a long list of healthcare providers to practice telemedicine, such as:

 

  • Psychiatrist
  • Licensed clinical social worker
  • Psychologist
  • Licensed professional clinical counselor
  • Licensed marriage and family therapist
  • Physician
  • ARNP
  • Speech-language pathologist
  • Occupational therapist
  • Physical therapist
  • Dietician
  • Chiropractors
  • Nurses

Online Prescriptions

A provider can submit an online prescription as long as there’s an established provider-patient relationship. Fortunately, with all health providers except Speech-language pathologists, a telemedicine visit can be used to establish that provider-patient relationship. Kentucky law allows good faith prior examinations to be performed through a telehealth service.

Informed Patient Consent

A patient’s written consent is required to do telemedicine. You can read more about how to do telemedicine-specific patient informed consent here.

Cross-State Telemedicine Licensing

In order to practice telemedicine in Kentucky, providers must be fully licensed in Kentucky. Kentucky isn’t part of the Interstate medical license compact yet.

Restrictions On Locations

Kentucky does not currently regulate where the patient must be located to receive telehealth care. 

Reimbursement Rates

Except for telehealth services provided by Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners or Community Mental Health Clinics, Kentucky Medicaid reumburses telemedicine at the same rates as in-person services. To bill for telemedicine, use the appropriate CPT code, along with GT modifier to note telemedicine delivery.  See your Medicaid Provider Manual for more details. 

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