Rep. Jim Ramstad with Honeywell HomMed's Adam Gillund; Bob Waters; and Jackie Eder-Van Hook.

5th Annual Telehealth Leadership Conference

March 8, 2006

Prepared Remarks of Minnesota Congressman Jim Ramstad

Thank you for your important leadership in expanding access to innovative health care solutions.

Telehealth represents the future for health care.  And the future is now!

Clearly, technology has provided most of us with easy and user-friendly access to innovative and critical services.

Things like hand-held computers … cell phones … paying bills without leaving the house … tiny television cameras inside our bodies to reduce invasive procedures.

Technology even makes it possible to access a bank account in the United States from an ATM machine in London in just 11 seconds.

That’s why it’s a great injustice that Medicare beneficiaries cannot gain the full benefits of similarly sophisticated -- and existing -- health care technology.

We must expand the use of communications technology and we need to do it now.

One very important application is the use of telemedicine technology in the home.

As the Co-Chair of the Bipartisan Disabilities Caucus and member of the Health Subcommittee, I strongly believe that adults with disabilities and seniors should be able to live in their own homes as long as possible.  People with disabilities and seniors deserves the dignity of independent living.

To make this community-based support system work effectively, the government must remove barriers to technology.

Since its invention in 1875, the telephone has changed lives.  The first telephone installed in Rochester, Minnesota, went from the farmhouse of Dr. William Mayo, founder of the Mayo Clinic, to the pharmacy in town.

This technological breakthrough saved valuable time and countless lives.

Since then, telecommunication technology and innovation have changed medicine in numerous, important ways.

Over the past decade, great strides have been made in telemedicine technology -- and its use in the home.  The Center for Telehealth and E-Health Law has led the charge.

You here today are at the forefront of enhancing and saving lives!

For patients who lack access to transportation, telemedicine offers another pioneering breakthrough: immediate access to medical care.

Studies have proven that increases in patient involvement in their own care -- and earlier recognition of signs and symptoms of disease -are critically important.

And that’s exactly what happens when patients have access to telemedicine technology!

I want to share with you a story about a woman in Minnesota, Mrs. Olson.

Mrs. Olson suffers from congestive heart failure and diabetes.

She was hospitalized six times in one year due to her congestive heart failure.

After consulting with her physician, Mrs. Olson began receiving telemedicine visits twice a week.

During her telemedicine visits:

• her lungs were checked for fluid buildup
• her vitals signs were checked
• her glucose levels were checked
• and adjustments were made to her treatment

As a result of the telemedicine visits, Mrs. Olson became more aware of her diet and adhered to it more closely.

A foot injury was monitored and managed, without an office visit!

And Mrs. Olson had no hospitalizations for six months!

During a time of staff shortages and increased travel costs, home telemedicine offers a cost-effective way of providing needed care and monitoring.

That’s why it only makes sense that Medicare reimburse for telemedicine.

Even we Norwegians can understand that fact.

That’s why I introduced H.R. 3588, the Medicare Home Health Telehealth Access Act.

This important legislation allows for reimbursement of telemedicine visits and creates a demonstration project to measure the quality of outcomes of telemedicine.

Not only does telemedicine make health care more accessible -- it also saves valuable health care dollars.

The legislation addresses medical needs before they require emergency care.

Access to telemedicine technology is crucial to the independence of people with disabilities.

And Medicare should encourage this independence.

Encouraging telemedicine is not only the right thing to do, but it’s also the cost-effective thing to do.

It is time to tear down barriers to telemedicine technology and bring health care into the 21st Century.

Thank you very much for all you are doing to bring innovative health care technology to those in need – and for your support of H.R. 3588!

       -Congressman Jim Ramstad, R-MN

Contact: 

Office of Congressman Jim Ramstad

103 Cannon House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

202-225-2871

Resources:

Medicare Home Health Telehealth Access Act (HR 3588)

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_bills&docid=f:h3588ih.txt.pdf