A clear national pathway
A single, workable special-registration framework for qualified telemedicine prescribing.
Federal Advocacy
Make Telemedicine Permanent
From extension to permanence.
Telemedicine is now an established part of modern healthcare. Patients rely on it for continuity of care, providers rely on it to reach patients responsibly, and healthcare organizations have built care models around it.
But the federal framework governing telemedicine prescribing remains temporary.
PHA is working to advance a durable federal policy that protects patients, preserves responsible provider-directed care, and gives providers and healthcare organizations the regulatory certainty needed to operate responsibly.
Federal Advocacy
The Federal Challenge
Since 2020, clinicians have been able to evaluate patients through telemedicine and prescribe certain medications under temporary federal flexibilities.
Those prescribing flexibilities are currently set to expire on December 31, 2026. Medicare telehealth payment authority operates on a separate timeline through December 31, 2027.
Patients and providers should not have to operate from extension to extension.
Patients need continuity of care. Providers need predictable rules. Federal policy should provide both.
PHA’s Federal Priority
Finish the Rule. Make the Pathway Permanent.
PHA supports a workable, permanent federal framework for telemedicine prescribing that includes:
Responsible access
Preserving the ability of qualified providers to evaluate and treat appropriate patients through compliant telemedicine without an unnecessary in-person default.
Practical safeguards
Monitoring, recordkeeping, reporting, and diversion-control requirements that protect patients and work in real-world clinical practice.
Clear responsibilities
Regulatory obligations that reflect the actual roles of providers, telehealth platforms, pharmacies, and other participants in the care-delivery system.
Statutory permanence
Moving beyond repeated temporary extensions by establishing durable authority in federal law.
Federal Advocacy
Permanence Is Accountability
Making telemedicine permanent does not mean removing safeguards.
PHA supports a framework that combines access with appropriate patient protections, regulatory oversight, monitoring, reporting, and responsible prescribing standards.
A stable framework gives patients greater continuity, gives providers clearer rules, and gives regulators a stronger foundation for oversight and enforcement.
Certainty supports accountability as much as it supports access.
Federal Advocacy
Protecting the Patient-Provider Partnership
At the center of this issue is the relationship between a patient and a trusted healthcare provider.
Federal policy should protect patients while allowing qualified providers to exercise responsible clinical judgment through modern models of care.
Patients should not have to wonder whether changing federal rules will disrupt access to a provider they trust. Providers should not have to build practices around temporary exceptions.
And the healthcare infrastructure supporting that relationship matters too, including provider networks, telehealth organizations, pharmacies, and other responsible healthcare organizations.
PHA supports strong quality and safety standards while preserving lawful access to individualized care when a qualified provider determines that care is appropriate.
Federal Advocacy
What PHA Is Doing
PHA is bringing together providers, healthcare organizations, policy experts, and other stakeholders affected by federal telemedicine policy to help advance a durable solution. Our work includes:
Engaging federal agencies and policymakers
Building stakeholder coalitions
Bringing clinical and operational perspective into the policy process
Supporting workable regulatory standards
Advancing statutory permanence
Keeping patient access and responsible clinical judgment at the center of the federal framework
Join the Effort
Help make responsible telemedicine permanent.
PHA is convening physicians, provider groups, telehealth organizations, responsible pharmacies, and healthcare innovators who have a direct stake in creating a durable federal framework for telemedicine. If your organization delivers, supports, or enables responsible telemedicine care, we want you at the table.
Join the Coalition