Steven Grigas spoke to Miami Today about the sudden rise of advertising for telemedicine across Florida, following authorization by the Florida Legislature. Members of the healthcare community have expressed concern over the business model which allows third-party companies remotely matching patients to unknown providers.
“I’m in favor of telemedicine as long as it’s done properly; the devil’s in the details,” Grigas said. “In one sense, it’s near and dear to my heart because rural access to healthcare has always been an issue. It’s a nightmare. There are still a couple of sticky issues. One is payment parity; out-of-state doctors can be paid less than doctors might charge for in-person visits. That was hotly debated. There’s also no requirement for healthcare plans to cover telehealth services,” which could be a disadvantage to lower-income patients.