Representatives of member companies unanimously approved GlobalMed® for membership in the Alliance for Connected Care, a 501(c)(6) organization, on March 20th. Former U.S. Senate Majority Leaders Tom Daschle and Trent Lott and former senior Senator John Breaux officially launched the Alliance in February. Members are leading health care and technology companies from across the healthcare spectrum, representing insurers, retail pharmacies, telehealth platform providers, telecommunications companies and health care entrepreneurs.
The goal of the Alliance is to create a regulatory environment in which every medical provider in America is permitted to deliver safe, high quality care using telehealth technology at his or her discretion, and be compensated at a consistent rate, regardless of care delivery location or technological delivery method.
“Healthcare is at a critical juncture,” said GlobalMed CEO Joel E. Barthelemy. “I believe we all want a healthcare system that utilizes proven, secure technologies in the delivery of care to minimize unwanted outcomes and high costs.”
Medical licenses vary by state, and some prohibit physicians from treating patients or prescribing medicine without an in-person visit. The Alliance believes it can achieve its goal of improving access to health care through legislation that removes geographic and site limitations and enables patients to communicate with their providers, regardless of location. It also wants to ensure the appropriate reimbursement of providers for connected care.
“The Alliance for Connected Care is spot on,” Barthelemy noted. “These are the disincentives that have discouraged the widespread use of technologies for remote care that other countries around the world have already embraced.”
