Mississippi is a leader in telehealth efforts and continues to push efforts forward in 2015 through legislation.
Last December, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation fellow Kristi Henderson shared the details of how Mississippi is using telemedicine to make up for the lack of access to medical professionals in aand rural environment at a Tedx-Jackson conference. Ms. Henderson, the University of Mississippi's chief telehealth innovation officer, hosted an event in Mississippi’s' Rayburn Capitol Hill building to speak about why telehealth is important to rural residents, according to Roll Call. The American Telehealth Association also ranked Mississippi at the top of a group of seven states that were using telehealth efficiently to expand medical services to underserved areas.
The two teleheath bills in Congress and the Senate currently were both sponsored by Mississipi legislators, Rep. Greg Harper (R.-Miss.) and Sen. Thad Cochran (R.-Miss.).
"You can have the greatest technology, which is represented in this room, but if you can't get paid for it, what’’s the motivation to use it?" Rep. Harper said in an address to Congress. "You have to be able to get reimbursed."