WASHINGTON, DC – On Tuesday night, Congressman Mike Thompson (CA-05) accepted the Health IT Pioneer Award from the Health IT Now coalition for his work on the Increasing Telehealth Access in Medicare Act.

“It’s an honor to accept the Health IT Pioneer Award,” said Rep. Thompson. “I’ve worked on telehealth policy since my days in the California Senate because it is part of the future of healthcare. By expanding telehealth services, we not only increase access to medical expertise and treatment to patients in all parts of the country, we can keep patients healthy at lower costs. It’s a no-brainer to help expand access to telehealth for Medicare Advantage beneficiaries, and I look forward to working with stakeholders to bring telehealth services to all Medicare beneficiaries in the future.”

The Health IT Pioneer Award is presented every year to a select handful of federal legislators and regulators for their work in pushing technologies policies and strategies to address pressing healthcare challenges.

The Increasing Telehealth Access to Medicare Act would give Medicare Advantage plans the ability to deliver services to their enrollees via telehealth by adding these services as a basic benefit. This would save money and make healthcare services and providers more accessible to enrollees.

The bill also clarifies that practitioners may use telehealth in chronic care management, allowing healthcare providers to check in on a patient who don’t have access to transportation, or to talk with patients in rural areas who suffer from more chronic conditions than their suburban and urban counterparts.

Health IT Now is a coalition of patient groups, provider organizations, employers, and payers supporting health information technology to improve patient outcomes.

Congressman Thompson represents California’s Fifth Congressional District, which includes all or part of Contra Costa, Lake, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.