Passing the Telemedicine Chronic Kidney Disease Improvement Research and Treatment Act 2017
About 15% of the adult population is suffering from chronic kidney disease. Some of them suffer from kidney failure, and some are on dialysis. Many of them, however, have already gone through a kidney transplant and they have to go through regular checkups.
Telemedicine is expected to offer a better solution to the patients. The National Kidney Foundation stated that telemedicine provides a better and promising medical alternative to the in-person health care and those in particular delivered at dialysis clinics or doctor’s office. Physicians can monitor the patient’s conditions like blood pressure and other important signs and give them medical adherence and diet plans without having to meet them face to face.
Nurses can, as well, coordinate medical care online with the patient’s care provider and interact with the patient from home. This offers on-demand care between the regularly scheduled office visits. Telemedicine is being termed as a step in the right direction to understand the disease better and find a cure.
The passing of the bill is aimed at improving the lives of the patients suffering from kidney problems. This will be achieved by identification of any transplantation barriers and improving the donation rates. It will also allow the patients to retain the access to private insurance and promote the access to home treatment for those undergoing dialysis.
H.R.2644 is trying to understand the way kidney disease progresses and its reaction to kidney failure treatment in the minority populations. This will help to improve access to treatment for individuals from the under-served rural and urban areas.
The bill also includes;
- National Academy of Sciences to study the Medicare’s cost and payment structure for the dialysis services which include analyzing if there are any adjustments required to advance the development of new therapies.
- Enhance access to home dialysis treatments through telehealth for the patients with end-stage renal disease
- Reduce Medicare restrictions and allow patients to receive treatment from home
CHRONIC Care Act also includes the provision of more and better home dialysis facilities without any limitation. CHRONIC Care Act will expand remote monitoring programs for people suffering from chronic conditions and give the Health and Human Services Department a way to reduce telehealth barriers hence increasing quality and effectiveness of the services.