Knowledge Library

New Law Alert 2023: Idaho

The Idaho legislature passed several bills impacting Idaho physicians. For a complete list of new healthcare laws, please see the Idaho Medical Association advocacy page. All laws are effective July 1, 2023 unless otherwise noted. Telehealth/Virtual Care Virtual Care Access Act (H 162): This Act clarifies virtual care practice requirements and addresses requirements for out-of-state providers treating patients via virtual care while the patient is located in Idaho. Mental, behavioral telehealth (H 61): House Bill 61 provides that a licensed mental or behavioral health provider who is not licensed in Idaho may provide telehealth services to an Idaho resident or...

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DEA Extends COVID Telemedicine Prescribing Rules for Controlled Substances

UPDATE: DEA and HHS Extend Telemedicine Flexibilities through 2024 October 9, 2023 Statement from the DEA on Telemedicine Flexibilities deadline: "We continue to carefully consider the input received and are working to promulgate a final set of telemedicine regulations by the fall of 2024, giving patients and medical practitioners time to plan for, and adapt to, the new rules once issued.  Accordingly, DEA, jointly with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has extended current telemedicine flexibilities through December 31, 2024.  The full text of the extension, entitled “Second Temporary Extension of COVID-19 Telemedicine Flexibilities for Prescription of Controlled...

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DEA Announces Proposed Telemedicine Rule Change for Controlled Substances

On 2/24/23 the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) announced a proposal for permanent rule changes to the Ryan Haight Act that will allow for the prescription of controlled substances through telemedicine, under certain circumstances, after the federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) expires on May 11, 2023. The Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008 requires prescribers conduct an in-person examination to evaluate each patient at least once before prescribing a controlled substance, even if a patient has already been taking the medication in question. During the PHE, the in-person requirement was changed to allow prescribers to perform...

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COVID Public Health Emergency to End in May 2023

On 1/30/23 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that the federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, which was first issued in 2020 and extended for another 90 days on January 11th, will not be extended further.  Thus, the public health emergency will expire on May 11, 2023. The HHS recently posted a Transition Roadmap Fact Sheet that discusses what will and will not be affected by the expiration of the public health emergency.  One of the several affected regulations relates to the prescription of controlled substances: “The ability of health care providers to safely dispense controlled substances via...

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Violence Against Healthcare Providers

As violence increases across the country, so too have acts of violence against healthcare providers. Unfortunately, this is not a new trend; polls conducted in 2014 and 2020 revealed that 71% of physicians and 82% of nurses reported having been targets of violence at some point in their careers, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that healthcare and social service workers are 5 times as likely to suffer a workplace violence injury than workers overall. Since the beginning of the COVID pandemic, this epidemic of violence has continued to worsen. An August 2022 poll conducted by the American...

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