This should be an excellent policy conference.<br><br>
<div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Telehealth Leadership Initiative</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:info@telehealthleadership.org">info@telehealthleadership.org</a>></span><br>
Date: Wed, May 13, 2009 at 3:35 PM<br>Subject: Message from Bob Waters: June 3rd Telehealth Leadership Conference<br>To: <a href="mailto:csbritain@gmail.com">csbritain@gmail.com</a><br><br><br>
<div>
<div align="center">
<table style="MARGIN: 0px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#ffffff" border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="middle">
<table style="WIDTH: 600px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" width="600" border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left" width="100%"></td></tr>
<tr>
<td style="PADDING-RIGHT: 1px; PADDING-LEFT: 1px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px; PADDING-TOP: 1px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #4c3f36" valign="top" align="left" bgcolor="#4c3f36">
<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #e8ecda" valign="top" align="left" width="100%" bgcolor="#e8ecda" colspan="2">
<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" width="100%" border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #819681; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" align="right"></td></tr>
<tr>
<td style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" align="left" color="#bfce85">
<div style="FONT-SIZE: 18pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" align="right" color="#819681"><font face="Arial Narrow,Arial MT Condensed Light,sans-serif" color="#842c31" size="7">Virtual Lobby Day</font></div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #e8ecda" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" width="100%" bgcolor="#e8ecda" border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #819681; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" align="right"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #819681; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" face="Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" color="#819681" size="2"><span><img height="165" alt="TLC 2009 Logo" width="600" border="0" name="ACCOUNT.IMAGE.99"> </span></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: #bfce85; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" align="left"></td></tr></tbody></table>
<table style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #819681" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#819681" border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td height="3"></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr>
<tr>
<td style="WIDTH: 175px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ded7bd" valign="top" align="middle" width="175" bgcolor="#ded7bd">
<table style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 10px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" width="100%" border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #819681; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #adb263" align="middle" bgcolor="#adb263"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #819681; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" face="Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" color="#819681" size="2"><font color="#990000">2008 Conference</font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; COLOR: #4f604f; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" align="middle" height="20"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; COLOR: #4f604f; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" face="Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" color="#4f604f" size="1"><img height="158" alt="US Capitol 2" width="127" border="0" name="ACCOUNT.IMAGE.18"><br>
</font></td></tr></tbody></table>
<table style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 10px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; COLOR: #4f604f; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" align="middle" height="20"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; COLOR: #4f604f; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" face="Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" color="#4f604f" size="1"><img height="103" alt="Sen. Stabenow" width="139" vspace="5" border="0" name="ACCOUNT.IMAGE.83"><br>
Sen. Debbie Stabenow addresses the participants via video</font></td></tr></tbody></table>
<table style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 10px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; COLOR: #4f604f; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" align="middle" height="20"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; COLOR: #4f604f; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" face="Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" color="#4f604f" size="1"><img alt="Sam Burgiss tlc" vspace="5" border="0" name="ACCOUNT.IMAGE.82"><br>
Sam Burgiss, PhD presents the Gustke Memorial Lecture</font></td></tr></tbody></table></td>
<td style="PADDING-RIGHT: 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 10px; PADDING-TOP: 10px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" valign="top" align="left" width="425" bgcolor="#ffffff">
<table style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 10px; WIDTH: 425px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td align="left" width="436">
<table style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 10px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" width="100%" border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; COLOR: #4f604f; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" align="left">
<div>Dear Telehealth supporter:</div>
<div> </div>In the next few weeks there is unprecedented opportunity to advance <strong><em>telehealth policy</em></strong>. We urgently need your help!<br>
<div> </div>
<div><strong><em>It only takes a few minutes to make a difference</em></strong>. Congress is going to start "marking up" a massive health reform package in early June. <em>However, at this time, there does not appear to be <strong>any</strong> significant telehealth provisions included in the package</em>. It would be terrible to miss this opportunity!<br>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA) and Bart Stupak (D-MI) have informed us that they, along with their Republican </div>
<div>co-sponsors, are willing to push very hard to incorporate the telemedicine provisions of H.R. 2068 into the health reform bill. Some of these provisions include:</div>
<div><br>· Expanding Medicare payment for telehealth to <strong><em>all </em></strong>
<div><strong><em> geographic sites</em></strong>, not just Health Professional Shortage</div>
<div> Areas and non MSAs;<strong><em> </em></strong></div></div>
<div><br>· <strong><em>Fixing the Medicare telemedicine credentialing issue</em></strong>
<div> by requiring CMS to follow the Joint Commission's </div>
<div> telemedicine standards;</div>
<div> </div></div>
<div>· <strong><em>Expanding "store and forward"</em></strong> reimbursement to projects</div>
<div> with HHS funding regardless of state;</div>
<div><br>· <strong><em>New Incentives for telehomecare and remote</em></strong>
<div><strong><em> monitoring</em></strong>; and </div>
<div> </div>
<div>· <strong><em> </em></strong>Establish a <em><strong>Telemedicine Advisory Committee</strong></em> to make </div>
<div> recommendations on CMS telehealth policies.<br><br>To date, <em><strong>Congressional offices are reporting only a handful of calls in support of adding telehealth language</strong></em>. You can change that by participating in the June 3rd Telehealth Leadership Conference and national lobby day sponsored by the <strong><em>Telehealth Leadership Initiative</em></strong> and the <em><strong>American Telemedicine Association</strong></em>. Register today to participate. If you do not have funds to cover registration, contact me - I'll help. If you are short on time, participate just in the "Contact Congress" portion of the program. There is <strong><em>no excuse not to be involved</em></strong> in this important effort.</div>
</div>
<div> </div>Without your involvement, we cannot advance telehealth policy.<br><br>
<div><u><a href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102580242678&s=4441&e=001O2aKE0ttP1QpNJA5hlQbrFzsCy_MFBxIdowDbOTzDF6I1hj7-XMUr_6Pn1o830kX-KnOum0-Qh8yRgeGSS09LRxIdMl8UN0A-kWedtMUNABfJ6t-6d17Jm63E0luUCO_Pm5uAW0Xbx9dxVjD-bYNdA==" target="_blank"><font color="#4f604f">Click here</font></a></u> to register the TLI Lobby Day <br>
<br></div>
<div> </div>
<div>Bob Waters<br>Partner, Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP</div>
<p>P.S. <em><strong>This conference is so important that I'm making a second request</strong></em>-open your address book and send this email to five others who need to be on this webinar. In order to "Light Up the Lines" on Capitol Hill, we need all telehealth supporters to participate in this webinar. You can help by spreading the word on the TLC Virtual Lobby Day.</p>
</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left" width="100%"></td></tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left" width="100%"></td></tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left" width="100%">
<table style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #819681" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#819681" border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td height="3"></td></tr></tbody></table>
<table style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 10px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" width="100%" border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; COLOR: #4f604f; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" align="left"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; COLOR: #4f604f; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" face="Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" color="#4f604f" size="1"><span><br>
<font face="Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" color="#4f604f" size="1">Telehealth Leadership Initiative </font>
<div><font face="Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" color="#4f604f" size="1"> </font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" color="#4f604f" size="1">1500 K Street, NW</font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" color="#4f604f" size="1">Suite 1100</font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" color="#4f604f" size="1">Washington, DC 20005</font></div>
<div><font size="1"><font color="#4f604f"><font face="Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><a href="http://www.telehealthleadership.org/" target="_blank">www.telehealthleadership.org</a></font> </font></font></div>
</span></font></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" width="100%" height="10"></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></div>
<div style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" align="center">
<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<div style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 8pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 10px; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: verdana,arial; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: verdana,arial" face="verdana,arial" color="#000000" size="1"><a href="http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?m=1101201578710&ea=csbritain%40gmail.com&a=1102580242678" target="_blank">Forward email</a></font></div>
<table style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; WIDTH: 600px; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: verdana,arial; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><font style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: verdana,arial" face="verdana,arial" color="#000000" size="1"><a href="http://visitor.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?v=001JF17rFyDmDa2rt35BtqrFl9aJSY8DWjwwN5Pc23C4mUW-TbmAIBeMBtKzIEyIOiBzjiIgKJ-ZBI%3D&p=un" target="_blank" shape="rect"><img alt="Safe Unsubscribe" border="0"></a>
<div>This email was sent to <a href="mailto:csbritain@gmail.com" target="_blank">csbritain@gmail.com</a> by <a style="COLOR: #0000ff" href="mailto:info@telehealthleadership.org" target="_blank" shape="rect">info@telehealthleadership.org</a>.</div>
<div><a style="COLOR: #0000ff" href="http://visitor.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?v=001JF17rFyDmDa2rt35BtqrFl9aJSY8DWjwwN5Pc23C4mUW-TbmAIBeMBtKzIEyIOiBzjiIgKJ-ZBI%3D&p=oo" target="_blank" shape="rect">Update Profile/Email Address</a> | Instant removal with <a style="COLOR: #0000ff" href="http://visitor.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?v=001JF17rFyDmDa2rt35BtqrFl9aJSY8DWjwwN5Pc23C4mUW-TbmAIBeMBtKzIEyIOiBzjiIgKJ-ZBI%3D&p=un" target="_blank" shape="rect">SafeUnsubscribe</a>™ | <a style="COLOR: #0000ff" href="http://ui.constantcontact.com/roving/CCPrivacyPolicy.jsp" target="_blank" shape="rect">Privacy Policy</a>.</div>
</font></td>
<td><font style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: verdana,arial" face="verdana,arial" color="#000000" size="1">
<div style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; COLOR: #666666; WORD-WRAP: normal"><a style="COLOR: #666666; TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp?cc=news09" target="_blank" shape="rect">Email Marketing</a> by</div>
<a href="http://www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp?cc=news09" target="_blank" shape="rect"><img border="0"></a> </font></td></tr></tbody></table>
<div style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; COLOR: #000000; PADDING-TOP: 20px; FONT-FAMILY: verdana,arial; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" align="left"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: verdana,arial" face="verdana,arial" color="#000000" size="1">Telehealth Leadership Initiative | 1500 K Street, NW | Suite 1100 | Washington | DC | 20005</font></div>
</td></tr></tbody></table></div><img height="1" width="1"></div></div><br><br clear="all">
<div></div><br>-- <br>Catherine S. Britain<br><a href="mailto:csbritain@gmail.com">csbritain@gmail.com</a><br>541-910-7366<br>