[ORTCCTelehealth-TAO] Oregon Senators Co-Sponsor Telehealth Amendment

Fri Dec 18 09:45:02 PST 2009

Excellent Cathy.  For those in Washington state:

cantwell.senate.gov/contact
murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm

On Fri, Dec 18, 2009 at 5:27 AM, Catherine Britain <csbritain at gmail.com>wrote:

> Dear TAO members and friends,
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> The message below asks you to contact your Senators about co-sponsoring SA
> 3136.  If you live in Oregon, I am proud to say that you will not need to
> make this request - our Senators Wyden and Merkley have already agreed to
> co-sponsor it.  We are so fortunate to have two Senators who understand the
> need for telehealth and are supporting efforts to remove the barriers we
> face each day to make it happen in Oregon and throughout the United States.
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> One of the key components of this amendment is that it requires CMS to
> develop procedures to accept credentialing and privileging by proxy for
> telehealth services.  This would remove a tremendous financial and staff
> resource burden from small and rural hospitals wishing to provide services
> for their patients telemedically and would make it easier for physicians in
> large hospitals and health systems to provide these services.  I
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> Because our Senators have taken the step to co-sponsor this amendment, *
> NOW* would be a good time to send them an email thanking them for their
> support and to let them know why this amendment is important to your
> program.  They still have a tremendous amount of work to do to ensure that
> the amendment is included in the Senate version of Health Care Reform and
> that it's provisions are included in the Conference bill.  Please let them
> know how much this work is appreciated, and that telehealth in Oregon will
> grow more quickly and easily because of it.
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> To contact Senator Wyden go to http://wyden.senate.gov/contact/
> To contact Senator Merkley go to http://merkley.senate.gov/contact/
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> If you have any questions about SA 3136, please do not hesitate to contact
> Cathy Britain at csbritain at gmail.com.
>
> Happy Holidays,
> Cathy
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: NRTRC <DONOTREPLYNRTRC at inhs.org>
> Date: Thu, Dec 17, 2009 at 1:49 PM
> Subject: The Clock is Ticking to Fix Credentialing and Privileging!! So,
> You Have to ACT NOW!!
> To:
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> *Telehealth News Update**  *
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> [image: TLI logo]
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> *Telehealth Leadership Initiative*
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>  *Telehealth Leadership Initiative*
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> 1500 K Street, NW
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> Suite 1100
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> Washington, DC 20005
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> www.telehealthleadership.org
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>      *Oregon** Senators Co-sponsor the Udall Amendment!***
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> Thank you Oregon, for securing the co-sponsorship of Senators Ron Wyden
> (D-OR) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) for Senator Tom Udall's amendment (SA 3136)
> to the health care reform bill!! This huge success was made possible by the
> hard-work and dedication of Cathy Britain, Board Member to the Oregon
> Telehealth Alliance and Robert Duehmig, Communications Director for the
> Oregon Office of Rural Health.
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> Two other Senators have also joined as co-sponsors.  A special thanks goes
> to telehealth leaders in their respective states for outreach to their
> Senators.   Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) joined as a co-sponsor following
> communications from American Telemedicine Association President, Dr. Karen
> Rheuban.   And Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD), became a co-sponsor following
> input received from South Dakota telehealth leader, Mary DeVany.
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> This month, Senator Udall introduced an amendment (SA 3136) to health care
> reform that would direct CMS to fix the remote credentialing and
> privileging  problem, by requiring CMS to develop procedures to accept
> credentialing and privileging standards by proxy for telehealth services.
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> TLI worked closely with the American Telemedicine Association and The Joint
> Commission in helping Senator Udall develop the credentialing and
> privileging language.
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> Right now, the Senator is in discussions with Senate leaders to determine
> whether his language is in or out of the health care reform bill.  In the
> next several days, the telehealth community will learn if Senator Udall's
> credentialing and privileging language was included in the Manager's
> Amendment.  We have the chance to have it included if Senator Udall
> can demonstrate the support of other senators by signing on co-sponsors.
> You need to act now to ask your two U.S. Senators to sign on as a co-sponsor
> to SA 3136 ( please click here
> <http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102893120978&s=675&e=001LXt-0mP8K7wdI3Jw87eCFzzztFw0PDzxLyCtAWBxh3Fd4iNKeuWs7wZX3w0E-82Q4rNoa7Vmz1sJ4xOYmHtqWO3_WWYO0-VDDGCZTBxxAZ7deMLEkD712lsd3ij-gZXspj2uROsNJN2IV7TuMBr5fSysXru-aV-aWKTfmezGXzw=>to
> find your U.S. Senators).
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> Senator Udall needs the support of other Senators to demonstrate to the
> Senate leaders the importance of these telehealth issues
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> Please *ACT NOW* by taking the following steps:
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> 1) *Click here
> <http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102893120978&s=675&e=001LXt-0mP8K7y98udKQZZitoP4KGLG_fdTGWSYngQMeUmpjE5lJt6_0jVnesSto1IUOl2HAlODE09tbImDRi6FVEUqlvfXh0hxEDUfXqSfpDIUNepe7Qrv4WXq5BpO0vWD90HJnAkqqmZ8ytHgk-sqvQ==>
> *for background information on this issue and a sample e-mail to use to
> email your Senators.
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> 2) Call the offices of your two Senators and ask that they show their
> support for telehealth by co-sponsoring SA 3136. You can reach their offices
> by calling the Capitol operator at 202.224.3121, then ask to be connected to
> their offices.
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> 3) Follow-up your call with an email to reaffirm your phone message.
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> *We need your senators to co-sponsor SA 3136  Please contact them today!*
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> *Thank You to All of Our Supporters!!***
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> TLI is pleased to announce the following organizations support the Udall
> Amendment:
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>    - American Medical Association
>    - American Telemedicine Association
>    - Telehealth Leadership Initiative
>    - The Joint Commission
>    - American Hospital Association
>    - American Heart Association/American Stroke Association
>    - American Academy of Neurology
>    - American Physical Therapy Association
>    - American Occupational Therapy Association
>    - American Mental Health Counselors Association
>    - American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
>    - Continua, a group of more than 200 businesses, endorses the amendment
>    and includes members such as Intel, Cisco, GE, IBM, Nokia, Novartis,
>    Panasonic, Philips, Price Water House Cooper, Samsung, and Sharp
>    - Virtual Radiologic Corporation
>    - Nighthawk Radiology Services
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> *Forward email<http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?m=1101201578710&ea=lordand%40inhs.org&a=1102893120978>
> *
>
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> Telehealth Leadership Initiative | 1500 K Street, NW | Suite 1100 |
> Washington | DC | 20005
>
>
>
>
> --
> Catherine S. Britain
> csbritain at gmail.com
> 541-910-7366
>
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-- 
Vanessa Leigh McLaughlin, MPH
Edith Forge
 connecting providers to patients world-wide!
1409 Franklin St. Suite 211
Vancouver, Wa  98660

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