Bob Guardabasco, RRT, NJSRC PACT Chairman
On March 18, Daryl Rogers, President of the New Jersey Society for Respiratory Care, led the New Jersey delegation to Washington D.C. to request congressional support for the Medicare Teleheath Parity Act. The delegation included myself, NJSRC Delegate Joseph Goss, and Drive4COPD ambassador and COPD patient advocate Joe Morrison. Over 100 respiratory therapists, students and patients arrived at Capitol Hill to educate their local Congressmen about this legislation that would expand patient access to telemedicine technology and provide pulmonary patients with access to the invaluable telehealth services of a respiratory therapist.
I recall hearing Sam Giordano state numerous times in the late fifties and early sixties when the federal government was drafting Medicare bill that respiratory therapists were missing from the bedside, and therefore missing from the legislation. Decades later, our time is now!
The Medicare train is at the congressional station, and as Respiratory Therapists we need to get aboard. Using telehealth services to remotely monitor and manage the clinical condition of the patient and intervene proactively will help avoid a costly hospital admission or readmission. Reducing hospital readmissions is a key Medicare priority. As part of the provisions of the Medicare Telehealth Parity Act, patients with COPD living in rural or remote regions of the country, where there is no easy access to medical facilities, would be eligible to receive respiratory therapy telehealth services from a qualified respiratory therapist. In addition to easing the burden on the Medicare beneficiary, telehealth services are an efficient use of limited clinical resources which helps maximize care coordination across a wide range of clinical sites. A critical byproduct of the legislation would mean respiratory therapists would be recognized under Medicare.
The New Jersey group met with staff members from Senators Menendez and Booker office. Additionally, the group met with staff from Congressman Frelinghuysen, Garrett, and Lance, to ask their support for the Medicare Telehealth Parity Act. The timing is right to improve patient’s access expanded telehealth services and in particular to the unique skills of respiratory therapists who are trained experts in the care of patients’ chronic respiratory diseases.
Let’s not miss the train again! If you are interested in being part of sculpting the future of respiratory profession, become a member of the New Jersey Political Advocacy Contact Team (PACT), by contacting me.
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