Federal grant follows Legislature requiring insurers cover telemedicine

North Country Hospital has been awarded a $1.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to expand telehealth services for patients across the Northeast Kingdom.

The Vermont Legislature this year passed a bill, S30, requiring health insurers to provide coverage for telemedicine.

The investment will help bring healthcare options to rural communities by making it easier for patients to connect with specialists without long waits or lengthy travel, hospital officials say.

The grant will support new equipment and technology enabling patients to see doctors and specialists through telehealth. Services include support for a new radiology group, allowing remote radiologists to review imaging studies around the clock and often deliver reports within minutes to hours.

This capability is critical for emergencies like strokes, trauma or internal bleeding, reducing diagnostic delays and enabling faster treatment decisions in emergency room or inpatient settings.

Mental health services for the emergency room will provide tele-psychiatry visits connecting patients to licensed providers when care is needed most. Neurology services will support the emergency room through tele-neurology, providing round-the-clock consultations and allowing ER staff to connect with board-certified neurologists within seconds to minutes.

The grant will also fund modern, reliable equipment to make telehealth visits easier and more secure.

National Law Review reports that the Vermont law based on bill S30 goes into effect on September 1. “It requires that health insurance plans provide coverage for healthcare and dental services delivered through telemedicine to the same extent as if the services were provided through in-person consultations. Health insurance plans must also provide the same reimbursement rate for services billed using equivalent procedure codes and modifiers, subject to the terms of the health insurance plan and provider contract, regardless of whether the service was provided in person or through telemedicine,” NLR said.

For many people in rural Vermont, specialized care often requires long waits or trips out of town. The grant will help North Country Hospital reduce those barriers by helping patients get care faster and closer to home, reducing costly and stressful hospital transfers, allowing doctors and specialists to work together more effectively, and maximizing healthcare resources through technology that can serve multiple needs.

“This funding helps us do more with less,” said Tom Frank, CEO of North Country Hospital. “Patients in our community will now have easier access to psychiatric, neurological, and radiology care without having to leave the area. It’s about better care, less travel, and more support for families here at home.”

Most of this article was republished from the Newport Dispatch. It also includes telehealth legislation information provided by VDC staff.