§ 27-81-3. Definitions. As used in this chapter:

(1) "Distant site" means a site at which a health-care provider is located while providing health-care services by means of telemedicine.

(2) "Health-care facility" means an institution providing health-care services or a health-care setting, including, but not limited to: hospitals and other licensed, inpatient centers; ambulatory surgical or treatment centers; skilled nursing centers; residential treatment centers; diagnostic, laboratory and imaging centers; and rehabilitation and other therapeutic-health settings.

(3) "Health-care professional" means a physician or other health-care practitioner licensed, accredited, or certified to perform specified health-care services consistent with state law.

(4) "Health-care provider" means a health-care professional or a health-care facility.

(5) "Health-care services" means any services included in the furnishing to any individual of medical, podiatric, or dental care, or hospitalization, or incident to the furnishing of that care or hospitalization, and the furnishing to any person of any and all other services for the purpose of preventing, alleviating, curing, or healing human illness, injury, or physical disability.

(6) "Health insurer" means any person, firm, or corporation offering and/or insuring health-care services on a prepaid basis, including, but not limited to, a nonprofit service corporation, a health-maintenance organization, or an entity offering a policy of accident and sickness insurance.

(7) "Health-maintenance organization" means a health-maintenance organization as defined in chapter 41 of this title.

(8) "Nonprofit service corporation" means a nonprofit, hospital-service corporation as defined in chapter 19 of this title, or a nonprofit, medical-service corporation as defined in chapter 20 of this title.

(9) "Originating site" means a site at which a patient is located at the time health-care services are provided to them by means of telemedicine, which can be a patient's home where medically appropriate; provided, however, notwithstanding any other provision of law, health insurers and health-care providers may agree to alternative siting arrangements deemed appropriate by the parties.

(10) "Policy of accident and sickness insurance" means a policy of accident and sickness insurance as defined in chapter 18 of this title.

(11) "Store-and-forward technology" means the technology used to enable the transmission of a patient's medical information from an originating site to the health-care provider at the distant site without the patient being present.

(12) "Telemedicine" means the delivery of clinical health-care services by means of real time, two-way electronic audiovisual communications, including the application of secure video conferencing or store-and-forward technology to provide or support health-care delivery, which facilitate the assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and care management of a patient's health care while such patient is at an originating site and the health-care provider is at a distant site, consistent with applicable federal laws and regulations. Telemedicine does not include an audio-only telephone conversation, email message, or facsimile transmission between the provider and patient, or an automated computer program used to diagnose and/or treat ocular or refractive conditions.

History of Section. (P.L. 2016, ch. 177, § 1; P.L. 2016, ch. 188, § 1.)