releases: http://franken.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=3582
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
This data as json
| url | title | date | year | month | party | chamber | state | member_name | bioguide_id | domain | scraper | source | date_source | text | has_text | collected_at | updated_at |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| http://franken.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=3582 | Sen. Franken: Bipartisan Bill Passed by Senate Aims to Increase Access to Health Care in Rural Communities | 2016-11-30 | 2016 | 2016-11 | Democrat | House | MN | Al Franken | F000457 | franken.senate.gov | legacy | Sen. Franken Says Rural MN Communities Often Lack Specialty Care Doctors for Mental Illness, Addiction, Diabetes, Pregnancy; Telemedicine Technology Can Help Fill Those Gaps Sen. Al Franken helped champion a Senate-passed bill that could expand how telemedicine technology is used in rural communities—including in Minnesota—where patients often lack adequate access to the specialty care doctors they need. More than a decade ago, experts created Project ECHO, which links primary care clinics with health specialists via video conference in order to better manage patient care. Since then, the project has been used by 40 states to manage nearly 50 diseases, including mental illness, HIV, addiction, diabetes, chronic pain, and complications in pregnancy. And in fact, the White Earth Nation in Minnesota uses the program to help treat hepatitis C.The Enhancing Capacity for Health Outcomes Act, which was cosponsored by Sen. Franken and passed Tuesday in the Senate, aims to better integrate the Project ECHO model into health systems across the country."For millions of rural Americans, getting access to high-quality, specialized health care for mental illness, addiction, pregnancy complications, and dozens of other health care conditions can be a real struggle," said Sen. Franken. "As co-chair of the bipartisan Rural Health Caucus, one of my top priorities is to better equip our rural health providers with the tools they need to deliver the right kind of care to people in their communities. I fought for this bipartisan bill because it seeks to connect local doctors with specialty care doctors to better address patients' medical needs."As Co-Chair of the Senate Rural Health Caucus and a member of the Senate Health Committee, Sen. Franken has long championed solutions for the unique health care challenges facing rural communities-including the expansion of telemedicine. Last year, Sen. Franken and his staff convened nearly 30 rural health meetings with over 300 providers, community members, and experts across Minnesota in a "Rural Health Tour," which you can read about here.Since then, Sen. Franken has pressed on all fronts to improve and strengthen rural health care. He introduced a comprehensive package of legislation in July to address some of the most pressing needs facing rural health providers, including workforce development, increased transportation and broadband services, and payment for quality improvement initiatives. And he recently reintroduced the bipartisan Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity Act (R-HoPE), which would support rural hospitals and providers in delivering care to their communities. Project ECHO Model Project Extension for Community Health Outcomes (ECHO) is an innovative continuing medical education model that uses interactive videoconferencing to link specialist teams ("hubs") with primary care providers ("spokes") in rural and underserved areas. Together, they participate in weekly teleECHO clinics that combine didactic teaching with mentoring and case-based learning. Demonstrated uses of Project ECHO have been numerous and include:- Addressing disease conditions and topic areas, including hepatitis C, integrated addictions and psychiatry, chronic pain/headache management, and diabetes;- A complex care program offering support to multidisciplinary teams providing primary and behavioral health care to high-need, high-cost patients; and- Public health interventions, including addressing H1N1, HIV, and tuberculosis as well as improving health and wellness within Native American populations. Benefits of Project ECHO model for: Patients: Improved access to quality and accessible care, with high-patient satisfaction Providers: Increased knowledge for providers in rural/underserved areas, with ability to serve as a local resource; improved provider network; enhanced professional satisfaction and reduced isolation; more access to specialists. Health care system: Higher retention of providers in rural/underserved areas; better care delivered in the right place at the right time by the right person; decreased costs (less travel for specialty visits, less hospitalizations and ER visits, better quality of care close to home, and treatment of chronic diseases earlier before complications arise). Current health care challenges: Project ECHO has successfully been used to increase the number of physicians able to prescribe buprenorphine for opioid abuse, to quickly educate health providers on public health crises such as H1N1, and to train providers to address complex mental health disorders. The Enhancing Capacity for Health Outcomes (ECHO) Act: The ECHO Act aims to better integrate the Project ECHO model-referred to as a "technology-enabled collaborative learning and capacity-building model"-into health systems across the country. The bill does the following:- Requires the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in collaboration with the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), to prioritize analysis of the model, its impacts on provider capacity and workforce issues, and evidence of its effects on quality of patient care.Requests a GAO report regarding opportunities for increased adoption of such models, efficiencies and potential cost savings from such models, ways to improve health care through such models, and field recommendations to advance the use of such models.- Requires the HHS Secretary to submit a report to Congress on the findings of the GAO report and the HHS report, including ways such models have been funded by HHS and how to integrate these models into current funding streams and innovative grant proposals. ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |