FCC Grants Available for Telehealth And Telemedicine
http://www.atsp.org/government/programs.asp?contentID=1895&FullStory=.
Association of Telehealth Service Providers
The FCC has recently announced a two-year pilot program that would fund
up to 85% of the costs for the design, construction and use of dedicated
broadband networks in order to expand the availability and use of
telehealth and telemedicine, particularly in rural areas. Unlike
existing rural health subsidy programs, this new program specifically
contemplates that major urban health centers would be eligible to
participate and receive funding if they include rural health care
providers in the network. The benefit for urban hospitals is that they
can use the funds to establish direct broadband links with rural
providers, thus expanding their reach, while also improving their own
telecommunications infrastructure and connecting with other networks and
research institutions.
The program makes approximately $55-60 million available for each of the
two years of the pilot program. The funds come from the existing Rural
Health Care Fund, which is part of the federal universal service
program. Public and nonprofit health care providers, such as
not-for-profit hospitals, may apply for the funds. For-profit health
care providers can be part of the network, but they must pay their costs
to connect.
The FCC will look primarily at two criteria:
1. to what extent does the proposed network include rural health care
providers; and 2. what is the business plan for eventually making the
network self-sustaining.
Thus, the key to a successful application is to pull together as many
health care providers - both urban and rural - as possible in order to
create regional networks. In this way, urban centers can expand their
footprint into rural areas and the rural providers will gain access, via
telemedicine, to the sophisticated practices and programs that urban
centers provide. The program will also fund high-speed connections to
the Internet2, a national broadband network dedicated to universities
and research institutions, such as the NIH.
Applications for the initial, first-year round of funding will be due
sometime in the next couple of months. Applications can also be
submitted later for the second year of funding. If accepted into the
program by the FCC, the applicant will follow the standard procedures
for funding from FCC universal service programs.
The funding application must:identify the organization that will be
legally and financially responsible for the conduct of activities
supported by the fund;
identify the goals and objectives of the proposed network (we believe
that a proposal that connects multiple rural health care providers over
a state or region and describes the types of telemedicine/telehealth
services and benefits that can be provided over the network will have a
better chance of being accepted);
estimate the network's total costs for each year;
describe how for-profit network participants will pay their fair share
of the network costs;
identify the source of financial support and anticipated revenues that
will pay for costs not covered by the fund (this could come from
increased patient referrals form the rural to urban centers or other
fees associated with the provision of telemedicine/telehealth services;
also additional funding might be available from state or other grant
programs);
list the health care facilities that will be included in the network;
provide the address, zip code, rural urban commuting area (RUCA) code
and phone number for each health care facility participating in the network;
indicate previous experience in developing and managing telemedicine
programs;
provide a project management plan outlining the project�s leadership
and management structure, as well as its work plan, schedule and budget;
indicate how the telemedicine program will be coordinated throughout the
state or region; and
indicate to what extent the network can be self-sustaining once established.
(Source: Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo P.C.Law Firm,
Press Release, January 31, 2007)
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