The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (DPW) has announced that it is expanding its use of telemedicine to serve the state’s Medical Assistance population.  Telemedicine is widely considered an especially useful tool for serving rural patients.
Under the new approach, the program will expand the types of medical specialists who may engage in telemedicine, remove the requirement that referring physicians participate in telemedicine consultations, and establish specific technologies for use in such consultations.
DPW has issued a new Medical Assistance Bulletin presenting more information about its new approach.
Medical Assistance Bulletin 09-12-31, 31-12-31, 33-12-30 describes the new program and outlines procedures for engaging in telemedicine consultations.  This bulletin can be found here.  A fee schedule and provider codes can be found here.