<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:large">Greetings!</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:large"><br></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:large">Many of you have been inquiring about the first meeting of
the Telemedicine Reimbursement Expansion (SB 1560) workgroup. The workgroup was
created by the Senate Health Care and Human Services Committee during the 2014
session, and the Telehealth Alliance of Oregon (TAO) was directed to facilitate
it and to see that a legislative concept was brought to the committee in
October 2014 for consideration during the 2015 session.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:large"><br></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:large">The members of the work group have been selected and
confirmed their willingness to participate.
The first meeting of the group will be Thursday April 24<sup>th</sup>
from 9 am to noon in Hearing Room C of the State Capitol. We invite you to be observers of the process
over the next six months. In order to do
that you can:</p>
<p class="" style></p><ul><li><span style><font face="Symbol" size="4"> </font><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:7pt"> </span></span><span style="font-size:large">Attend the meetings in person</span><br>
</li><li><span style="font-size:large;font-family:Symbol"><span style="font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'"> </span></span><span style="font-size:large">Attend the meetings using the audio/video link
set up by Legislative Media (Go to Oregon.gov -> Legislature ->
Committees -> HR C)</span><br></li><li><span style="font-size:large;font-family:Symbol"><span style="font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'"> </span></span><span style="font-size:large">Watch the meeting afterwards using the link on
the TAO website </span><a href="http://www.ortelehealth.org/" style="font-size:large">www.ortelehealth.org</a><span style="font-size:large"> (more
on that after the first meeting).</span><br></li></ul><font size="4"></font><p></p>
<p class="" style="font-size:large"></p>
<p class="" style="font-size:large"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:large">As an observer you can only listen to the workgroup;
however, there will be a brief period during each work group meeting for public
input, and we are setting up a space on the TAO website where you can post
comments to the work group (more on that after the first meeting as well).</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:large"><br></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:large">For those of you not familiar with the Capitol, Hearing Room
C is located on the main floor. Go through the rotunda, past the information
desk and to the hallway. HR C is the
first hearing room on the left off the hallway.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:large"><br></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:large">If you plan on attending the meetings in person, come
prepared to pay for parking. There are
ten hour parking meters on the front (mall) side of the Capitol. This is Court Street. According to my calculations you will need
$5.25 in quarters to pay for three and a half hours of parking. Day passes are available in the basement of
the Capitol, but they cost $15.00 so you are better off using quarters if you
have them.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:large"><br></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:large">Meeting materials including agendas and resource documents
will be posted on the Telehealth Alliance of Oregon (TAO) website at <a href="http://www.ortelehealth.org/">www.ortelehealth.org</a> beginning Monday
April 21<sup>st</sup>. Go to the home
page, select <i>Policy </i>from the menu at
the top and select <i>Telemedicine Expansion
Work Group</i> from the drop down menu.
We will post links to the archived meeting videos there as well. There will be no written minutes of the
meetings, only the video accounts. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:large"><br></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:large">Please feel free to share this message with others that you
think might be interested. Should you
need further information please feel free to contact me at <a href="mailto:csbritain@gmail.com">csbritain@gmail.com</a> or 541-910-7366.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:large"><br></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:large">Best regards,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:large">Cathy Britain, TAO Program Director</p></div><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr"><div>Catherine S. Britain, Program Director</div>
<div>Telehealth Alliance of Oregon<br><a href="mailto:csbritain@gmail.com" target="_blank">csbritain@gmail.com</a><br>541-910-7366</div>
<div><a href="http://www.ortelehealth.org" target="_blank">www.ortelehealth.org</a></div>
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