I am afraid they will just build fiber business plans and not give
wireless a second thought. Why should they consider wireless if they can
get fiber for virtually free? Like I said...Grrrrr.
Scriv
Tom DeReggi wrote:
maybe the free money will change their policies :-)
Tom DeReggi
RapidDSL & Wireless, Inc
IntAirNet- Fixed Wireless Broadband
----- Original Message ----- From: "John Scrivner" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "WISPA General List" <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, February 05, 2007 3:02 PM
Subject: Re: [WISPA] Tele-Health Grants
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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