This would be great news for me if the medical community around me did
not have a policy against using wireless technology for data
communications. Grrrrr
Scriv
Peter R. wrote:
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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