Alaska Telehealth State Laws & Reimbursement Policies

Alaska’s Medicaid program will reimburse for services “provided through the use of camera, video, or dedicated audio conference equipment on a real-time basis.”

The department will pay only for professional services for a telemedicine application of service. The department will not pay for the use of technological equipment and systems associated with a telemedicine application to render the service.

Alaska Medicaid will reimburse for Store & Forward telehealth as long as the service is provided through transferring digital images, sounds, or previously recorded video from one location to another.

The guiding principles for telemedicine practice in the American Medical Association (AMA), Report 7 of the Council on Medical Service (A-14), Coverage of and Payment for Telemedicine, dated 2014, and the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB), Model Policy for the Appropriate Use of Telemedicine Technologies in the Practice of Medicine, dated April 2014, are adopted by reference as the standards of practice when providing treatment, rendering a diagnosis, prescribing, dispensing, or administering a prescription or controlled substance without first conducting an in-person physical examination.

The Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development is required to adopt regulations for establishing and maintaining a registry of businesses performing telemedicine in the state.