Telehealth Leadership Initiative

		Telehealth Leadership Initiative

OUR MISSION

The Telehealth Leadership Initiative provides opportunities for dialogue, advancement, education, and improvement of all aspects of the telehealth and e-health fields through various meetings, such as the Telehealth Leadership Conference, seminars, communications, publications, and other programs and activities.

We articulate the needs and interests of the telehealth and e-health fields before legislative, administrative, and judicial branches of local, state, and national governments.

We strive to conduct activities for the betterment of all those individuals or firms involved in some aspect of the telehealth and e-health fields.

Samuel G. Burgiss, PhD

Gustke Memorial Lecture

Sally Davis, Marquette General Health System

Legislative and Advocacy Presentation

The Honorable Debbie Stabenow

(D - MI)

Congressional Address

Thanks for making this year's TLC a great success!

On June 3, 2009, the Telehealth Leadership Initiative held its 7th annual Telehealth Leadership Conference, a “Virtual Lobbying Day.” The event allowed participants from nearly 30 states to gather and hear speakers from the Administration and Congress, as well as leaders from the telehealth community to discuss issues pertaining to health care reform and telehealth.

Additionally, participants took part in “Light Up the Phone Lines” a segment where they called their Members of Congress to ask for their support and co-sponsorship of Congressman Mike Thompson’s (D-CA) bill, the Medicare Telehealth Enhancement Act of 2009 (H.R. 2068) and Senator John Thune’s (R-SD) bill, Fostering Independence Through Technology Act of 2009 (S. 457).

This conference laid the groundwork for what we hope will be wide-spread acceptance and use of telehealth.

In recent news...

TLI Counsel Meets with Blue Dog Democrats to Discuss Telehealth Priorities

Bob Waters, counsel to the Telehealth Leadership Initiative (TLI), gave testimony today before the Blue Dog Democrats' Healthcare Task Force on Capitol Hill in which he urged the Blue Dogs to place a priority on telehealth while drafting healthcare reform legislation. The Blue Dog Healthcare Task Force is chaired by Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR). Ten members of the Blue Dog Caucus were in attendance, in addition to over 20 health care staffers from other Blue Dog members.

Waters urged the Blue Dog Healthcare Task Force to put their support behind two pending bills, which were the topics of the recent Telehealth Leadership Conference--the Medicare Telehealth Enhancement Act of 2009 (HR2068), introduced by Blue Dog member Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA) and the Fostering Independence Through Technology (FITT) Act (S.457). These bills are supported by the TLI, the American Telemedicine Association, and the Home Care Technology Association of America.

In his comments to the Task Force, Waters highlighted the bill's provisions that would expand reimbursement for telehealth and eliminate the rural/urban requirement for telehealth reimbursement. Waters also described the "no-cost" attributes of the FITT legislation, indicating that remote monitoring services would be reimbursed through savings generated by telehomecare services, not through Federal payments.

Waters stressed to the Blue Dogs that an investment in the expansion of telehealth and remote monitoring would not only reap financial savings in healthcare but would also increase access to care for many citizens, in both rural and urban underserved areas of the country. "Averting one hospital visit through the use of telehealth or remote monitoring for chronically ill patients will more than pay for the costs of those telehealth services," Waters told the Task Force.

Waters: Telemedicine Boosts Access to Needed Care

A serious car accident left 16-year-old Kim Wolf in a semi-conscious state — unable to speak or even sit up. Kim is from a small town in North Dakota where the closest hospital with the specialty medical treatment she required was more than 100 miles from her home. However, Kim was fortunate; she did not have to travel long distances to receive the care she needed because the hospital in her hometown utilizes telehealth technology.

Telehealth, also known as telemedicine, is a way to provide health care, health information and health education services to patients by using the Internet and specially adapted equipment. Through the use of telemedicine, Kim was able to receive treatment from specialized physicians, from the convenience of her hometown hospital in Ashley, N.D. This care saved Kim’s life, getting her out of the hospital and back to school.

Click here to read the full story.

H.R. 2068 to Expand Access to Telemedicine

The Medicare Telehealth Enhancement Act of 2009 was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressmen Mike Thompson (D-CA), Bart Stupak (D-MI), Lee Terry (R-NE) and Sam Johnson (R-TX). This important piece of legislation aims to make telehealth services more widely available by expanding coverage to urban and suburban areas and increasing the number of telehealth facilities.

Click on the "take action" tab above to sign your name in support of this bill, and to tell key Members of Congress about the importance of telehealth in health care reform.