telecommunications system

Subject to paragraphs (8) and (9), the Secretary shall pay for telehealth services that are furnished via a telecommunications system by a physician (as defined in section 1395x(r) of this title) or a practitioner (as defined in paragraph (4)(E)) to an eligible telehealth individual enrolled under this part notwithstanding that the individual physician or practitioner providing the telehealth service is not at the same location as the beneficiary. For purposes of the preceding sentence, in the case of any Federal telemedicine demonstration program conducted in Alaska or Hawaii, the term “telecommunications system” includes store-and-forward technologies that provide for the asynchronous transmission of health care information in single or multimedia formats.