Your help is needed to ensure that credentialing and privileging language from S. 2741, the Rural Telemedicine Enhancing Community Health (TECH) Act of 2009, introduced by Senator Tom Udall (D-NM), is included in the Senate’s health care reform bill. Senator Udall has introduced the Credentialing and Privileging provisions in an Amendment
(SA 3136) to health care reform.

Senator Udall’s Amendment contains provisions to expand telehealth programs:

• Expanding access to remote patient monitoring and stroke telehealth services;
  

• Improving access to "store-and-forward" telehealth services in Indian Health Service (IHS) and Federally qualified community health centers (FQHCs);
  
  
• Establishing a Telehealth Advisory Committee; and,
  
  
• Providing Telehealth services to all small population metropolitan counties.

  
  

The Udall Amendment also addresses the critical issue of credentialing and privileging of telehealth providers by requiring the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to allow remote credentialing and privileging.  This language aims to decrease the administrative and financial burden that is often caused by requiring telehealth providers to be individually credentialed and privileged by all hospitals in which they administer care, via telehealth.

The Senator's credentialing and privileging language for telehealth providers is more expansive than the language included in the House-passed health care reform bill.  The House bill included more restrictive language, allowing only credentialing by proxy. 

In contrast, the SA 3136 requires CMS to develop regulations to implement both a process for telehealth practitioners to be credentialed and privileged by proxy, as well as a "hold harmless" criteria for those institutions using credentialing and privileging by proxy.  The "hold harmless" criteria would remain until CMS's regulations regarding remote credentialing and privileging are finalized.

The introduction of the Udall Amendment is a huge success for the telehealth community and those populations that rely on telehealth for quality health care services.  However, there is still a lot of work to be done to ensure that the Amendment  is included in the Senate's overall health care reform bill.  

Senator Udall is in discussions with Senate leaders on whether SA 3136 is included in health care reform.

Please contact your Senators and urge them to support telehealth by cosponsoring SA 3136.   Ten or fifteen Senate cosponsors may make the difference between SA 3136 being included in health care reform. 

These discussions are occurring now, so please take action immediately!