Virginia has many of the basic protections crucial to the success of telemedicine, such as a parity law that mandates equivalent coverage for telemedicine and in-person services from private payers, Medicaid and state employee health plans. Virginia state mandates telemedicine reimbursement only when medical services are provided via live video which the AdvanaCare platform has already built in.
There seems to be some confusion with the terms telemedicine and telehealth. No explicit federal definition exists that makes a distinction between them. Some states define telemedicine as strictly clinical practice, while telehealth is a broader term that includes health education and disease prevention.
Virginia officials do not differentiate between these two terms. The providers practicing in Virginia can use them as synonyms. Telemedicine does appear more often in legal documents, which implies that it is a more common word, at least among Virginians.
The parity law introduced in 2010 has been crucial for the development of telemedicine in Virginia. It mandated the coverage for telehealth services to private payers and Medicaid. The residents of the Old Dominion embraced the benefits of telemedicine, and it is one of the most popular models of practice in the state.
Virginia Telemedicine Policy § 38.2-3418.16. Coverage for telemedicine services