Telehealth groups urge federal government to extend virtual prescribing flexibility
With just four months left until the scheduled expiration of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s flexibility on virtual narcotics prescribing, a long list of hundreds of health care stakeholders is calling on Congress and the White House to extend it before “countless patients are abandoned and left without lifesaving, clinically appropriate care.”
Led by the American Telemedicine Association and its ATA Action chapter, more than 330 different organizations signed on in an effort to urge federal officials to extend virtual prescription eligibility during the pandemic, which “provided a lifeline for countless individuals across the country, ensuring continued access to essential mental health care, substance abuse treatment, palliative care and many other critical treatments at a time when in-person visits were impossible or unsafe.”
In separate letters sent to the House And SenateThe groups — which include the American College of Physicians, the American Medical Informatics Association, the National Rural Health Association and many others — are calling for a two-year extension of the remote prescribing flexibility for narcotics in their legislation by the end of the year.
Another letter to the White House calls on the Biden administration to work with the DEA to use existing authorities to expand flexibility, buying time for the agency to establish a special enrollment pathway that “balances access to medically necessary care with appropriate enforcement.”
Meanwhile, another advocacy organization, the Center for Telehealth and e-Health Law, a nonprofit research group focused on the legal and regulatory aspects of digital health, also wrote directly to the DEArequesting that 1) the current telemedicine prescribing exemptions be immediately extended and 2) the process of issuing a rule that paves the way for a permanent extension of the prescribing authority be initiated.
“There is no clinical justification for requiring an in-person visit to prescribe controlled substances; this requirement often results in delayed treatment, increased travel burdens, and additional financial costs for patients,” CTeL said in its letter to DEA Assistant Administrator Thomas Prevoznik. “We strongly urge DEA to implement measures that prevent diversion while ensuring that telemedicine remains accessible to all — these are not zero-sum principles.”
THE BIGGER TREND
While the DEA has offered discreet extensions of virtual prescribing flexibility for narcotics in the past, there is concern that the expiration of the current flexibility will pose a greater challenge.
In particular, CTeL has its to assure that the agency “likely intends to allow these waivers, which were initially enacted in 2020 during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, to expire on December 31 without public notice.” It urges telehealth and other healthcare stakeholders to make their voices heard by signing his letter to the DEA.
These pleas are crucial for telehealth and the policies that underpin it.
Two weeks ago, ATA sent a letter asking the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to clarify its own regulations. It also called on CMS to extend the telehealth flexibility in the 2025 Physician Fee Schedule and asked the White House and Congress to make it permanent.
Earlier this week, Healthcare IT News spoke with Matt Wolf, senior healthcare analyst at consulting firm RSM US, who argued that telehealth services in the United States are likely to stagnate and perhaps even decline without significant regulatory reform, losing the potential of virtual care demonstrated during the pandemic.
ON THE RECORD
“This is a predictable and preventable crisis looming on January 1, and we are running out of time to prevent countless patients from being left behind and denied lifesaving, clinically appropriate care,” Kyle Zebley, executive director of ATA Action, said in a statement.
“Every day we lose valuable time that the DEA needs to develop a rule that allows and regulates telehealth narcotics prescribing without endangering the health and safety of Americans, especially those in underserved communities.”
Mike Miliard is Editor-in-Chief of Healthcare IT News
Email the author: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com
Healthcare IT News is a publication of HIMSS.