What You Should Know: – FCC releases Public Notice providing additional information and guidance for potential applicants interested in applying for its Connected Care Pilot Program. – The Connected Care Pilot Program will provide up to $100 million from the Universal Service Fund (USF) over a three-year period to selected applicants to support the provision […]
The coronavirus outbreak, or COVID-19, has fundamentally transformed our lives and communities, contributing to economic declines, disruptions in schooling, and distressed hospital systems. However, the pandemic has generated some silver linings, including the widespread adoption of telehealth that has helped to mitigate the risk of community spread by reducing unnecessary hospital visits and ensuring real-time […]
The roadmap released this week includes a four-point strategy to address the challenges facing rural healthcare. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday released an 82-page Rural Action Plan aimed at evaluating and engaging challenges facing rural healthcare in the country. The plan lays out a four-point strategy intended to address hurdles to providing […]
Kimberly Sanders was recovering from a heroin addiction when the coronavirus struck. She had been homeless before and struggled to commute long distances for treatments. But because of her failure to attend several appointments, her previous doctors stopped seeing her. Years later, in a bid to get clean, she moved to Estes Park, Colorado, and began attending […]
A group of 14 Democratic senators penned a letter to FCC chairman Ajit Pai on Aug. 20 detailing what they say is the agency’s failure to manage the Rural Health Care Program and COVID-19 Telehealth Program. In the letter, the senators said that FCC “has not made sufficient funding available, has delayed rural healthcare funding decisions, and […]
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and other federal agencies are joining forces to increase access to telehealth solutions in rural areas across the U.S. According to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) issued in early September, the FCC, along with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will […]
A letter signed by 14 Democratic Senators charges the FCC and Chairman Ajit Pai with failing to properly manage the Rural Health Care Program and the COVID-19 Telehealth Program, thus hindering attempts to expand telehealth access in rural America. A group of lawmakers is taking the Federal Communications Commission and Chairman Ajit Pai to task […]
Physicians say pandemic has shown not only the utility but also the effectiveness of remote health care delivery Hundreds of hospitals and health care centers from Washington state to Louisiana are expanding telehealth infrastructure thanks to $200 million that Congress appropriated for the Federal Communications Commission in emergency legislation. In some cases, hospitals are supplementing the federal […]
Jackie Drees – Tuesday, September 8th, 2020 The Federal Communications Commission recently published application details on its $100 million Connected Care Pilot Program, which aims to enhance telehealth access for low-income Americans and veterans. FCC released the additional details for the program as well as application instructions on Sept. 3. The agency first introduced the Connected Care program in 2018. Five […]
On August 3, 2020, President Trump signed Executive Order 13941 (the “Executive Order”) which expands access to certain telehealth services post-pandemic. The Executive Order focuses on telehealth access for individuals living in rural areas and implements the following mechanisms: The Secretary of HHS is tasked with developing a new model that will give rural providers flexibilities from […]
President Trump issued an Executive Order (the “Order”) on August 3, 2020, to improve rural health and telehealth access. The Order tasks several federal agencies with developing new programs and plans to address longstanding federal barriers to fuller telehealth access in rural areas, including payments, infrastructure, and policy. According to the Order, the Centers for Medicare and […]
The executive order calls upon HHS to cement expanded Medicare telehealth coverage and improve rural health care infrastructure. A new executive order from the White House is pushing to expand telehealth coverage and infrastructure, as well as make health care in rural communities more accessible beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid […]
President Donald Trump signed a new executive order Aug. 3 to expand access to telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic, notably in rural areas. The Trump administration also is extending some telehealth services even after the pandemic public health emergency ends. The order requires the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) to roll out new […]
A Federal Communications Commission plan to spend $300 million on telehealth is the latest in a series of steps taken to aid Americans during the coronavirus pandemic. While direct government spending on healthcare services is usually poorly targeted, such temporary emergency programs with strict spending limits and strict oversight can actually save money compared to […]
Doctors treating patients virtually can provide new services, such as emergency visits, eye exams, and certain mental health visits, after the pandemic subsides under an executive order from President Donald Trump announced yesterday. As part of the order, the Agriculture Department and Federal Communications Commission are partnering to bolster broadband access to rural communities, boosting telehealth efforts […]