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INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana ranks 39th for patient-physician access, but a new law could help connect more people and doctors.
The state’s new telemedicine law allows doctors to examine a patient through a video conference and give a prescription. The law goes into effect July 1.
Dr. Stephen Thrap with St. Vincent Medical Group in Frankfort says this is the future of health care.
"The equipment is available to listen to people’s hearts and lungs, to see into their ears and eyes and give us a very good opportunity to make the diagnosis," Thrap said.
Indiana is one of the last to establish a telemedicine law that could provide better healthcare access for Hoosiers, especially in rural areas.
Becky Sanders, Program Director for the Indiana Rural Health Association’s Telehealth Center, said that while the new law will open doors, it also poses limitations.
"When you cut off a psychiatrist from being able to prescribe mood altering drugs to a person who needs them, then that’s a little bit of a hiccup in the law," Sanders said.
Physicians cannot prescribe controlled substances, abortion inducing drugs or glasses and contacts.
Sanders says telemedicine is part of growing health care.
"More and more companies are popping up in this arena where they are providing services directly to the consumer for acute care services like colds, sinus infections, ear infections… that type of thing," Sanders said.
Experts also stress that telemedicine shouldn’t take the place of face-to-face doctor visits.
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