Senate Bill 212 Signed by Governor: Allows for Telehealth for Home Care

This week, Senate Bill 212 was signed by Governor Jared Polis. Solace Pediatric Healthcare played a large role in providing information and shared family stories to help pass this bill. Senate Bill 212 allows for telehealth for home care and keeps patients and health care workers safe while promoting convenient, personalized care.

Why Senate Bill 212 is Important

Senate Bill 212 protects the patient’s ability to receive care via teleheath that was granted during the COVID-19 public health emergency. Telehealth has kept consumers and providers safe while allowing patients to continue their care plan with their providers. This access would have been removed when the declared emergency ended unless the state legislature acted. SB 212 keeps patients and health care workers safe and promotes personalized, convenient care. This bill is for all CO home health and hospice but is especially beneficial to providing pediatric therapy to children across Colorado. Some of the families who benefit from telehealth spoke about the impact it has had on their lives.

“Telehealth has worked really, really well, “ said Jill Hall of Denver, whose daughter Anna, age 5, has been receiving physical and occupational therapy twice a week via telehealth. Working with her therapists remotely, Anna has learned to cut with scissors and walk independently up and down stairs. Telehealth is clearly safer and more convenient, said Hall. “Even before the pandemic, we have three other kids, and there are often flus and colds going around. If anybody in the house is sick, we’d have to cancel to protect the therapist.”

Many children across Colorado, especially those in more remote or rural locations will now be able to receive the care they need to live their best lives and reach their goals.

Our CEO Darcie Peacock’s Speech

Our CEO, Darcie Peacock spoke at the signing, sharing the stories of many of the families and children who benefit from telehealth, and the strides they have made in their own personal growth. We are proud to have helped move this bill through the legislature and to see the benefits families throughout Colorado receive with its passing!

Colorado Telehealth Bill Signing 1 from Solace Pediatric Home Healthcare on Vimeo.

“Good morning everyone,

My name is Darcie Peacock. I am the CEO of Solace Pediatric Home Healthcare and it is such a pleasure to be here this morning representing all of our fantastic clinicians and employees as well as the wonderful families we serve.  I am also representing the Home Care and Hospice Association of Colorado that has done tremendous work alongside our legislature, and under the leadership of Governor Polis, to pass this bill, protecting patients’ rights to receive care via telehealth.

Amidst this uncertain time, Colorado has taken this opportunity to break down barriers, be creative in communication and service delivery models, and increase access to our most vulnerable population, without increasing risk. The field of home care, home health and hospice has banded together to demonstrate that clinicians, caregivers and nurses can remain consistent forces during these troubling times, supporting our community through virtual visits just as effectively as we have been in person. This has pushed the historical boundaries of the home care field and has illuminated the significance of telehealth, far beyond a global pandemic.  Let me share the level of impact telehealth has on the families we serve:

Telehealth has allowed immunocompromised children like Eli to participate in live, virtual sessions to reach critical developmental milestones like crawling and feeding, without increasing his risk of illness during flu season. Telehealth means that children like Grace can work with a pediatric physical therapist from a different county who best meets her needs, to help develop the leg strength necessary to walk independently and play with her friends outdoors. Telehealth means access to behavioral interventions for Atano, whose mom has been able to take the driver’s seat in therapy and significantly reduce his aggressive outbursts by learning how to encourage him to express his feelings and needs. It means that when we hit the snow season, which so many of us love, patients don’t risk losing progress when there’s inclement weather. Telehealth is healthcare. And treatment. And access.

I am so proud to see that our world of home care, home health and hospice is turning obstacles into opportunities and even more proud that we are using this time now to make necessary and lasting changes to healthcare access for years to come.”