Telehealth Use by Doctors Poised to Surge

A Medicare proposal that would encourage more reimbursement of telehealth services has grabbed the health-care industry’s attention and may signal a growth spurt for the technology.

However, there’s only so much the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services can do on its own and Congress may need to step in to make it easier for doctors and health-care facilities, especially in rural areas, to adopt telehealth technology.

Widespread adoption of telehealth technology has the potential to save millions of health-care dollars and improve patient care by cutting down on unnecessary and costly trips to hospitals and doctors.

The proposed rule ...