Telehealth expands in Alaska: new law enables cyberhealth practices.

• Author: Stricker, Julie
• Position: SPECIAL SECTION: Healthcare

Living in a community off Alaska's road system has often meant long waits or expensive flights into a regional hub for medical care. But recent advances in telecom infrastructure have brought cutting-edge medicine to rural Alaska. In June, Governor Bill Walker signed a bill that expands the use of telemedicine in Alaska. Specifically, Senate Bill 74 (SB74) removes a requirement for a provider to be in-state in order to prescribe treatments. It also allows telemedicine to be used for clinical practices such as speech pathology, counseling, family therapists, social workers, and occupational therapists.

Walker also signed House Bill 234, which requires insurance plans in Alaska to cover remote mental health services the same as an in-person visit without requiring an in-person visit first.

The new laws are expected to save Alaska $31 million in Medicaid-related travel in fiscal year 2017 and as much as $114 million per year by 2022, according to the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services.

But in order for communities to be able to access such services, they need to have high-speed, secure Internet. The state's major telecommunications companies have been expanding broadband access to communities across the state, and health-related nonprofits are reaping the benefits.

For instance, Alaska Communications has provided telehealth since 2010. In 2015, the company announced expanded partnerships with nonprofits in rural areas around the state that would give residents access to more high-speed, secure telemedicine options.

Working with Chugachmiut in the Prince William Sound, Lower Cook Inlet, and Resurrection Bay region; Akeela, which serves rural villages across the state; and the Juneau Alliance for Mental Health Inc., which provides services for Alaskans with mental health and related problems in Juneau and nearby villages, Alaska Communications provides access to telehealth solutions in real time.

"We work with each organization to understand their needs and then design, build, and maintain custom networks that allow them to provide more access to healthcare for more Alaskans," Alaska Communications senior vice president for business markets Bill Bishop says via email.

Range of Options

In the past decade, GCI has also greatly expanded broadband capacity to dozens of rural villages across the state via its TERRA project. That also provides those communities access to the company's Connect MD Medical Network Solution, which has...