Blog, COVID-19 - Coronavirus, Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Telehealth
COVID-19 Telehealth Program Invoice Frequently Asked Questions
- What do I need to do to seek reimbursement for eligible expenses incurred under the COVID-19 Telehealth Program?
You must first pay the vendor or service provider for the costs of the eligible services and/or connected devices received before requesting reimbursement for those costs from the COVID-19 Telehealth Program. The COVID-19 Telehealth Program will not directly pay a health care provider’s service providers or vendors. After you have received the eligible services and/or connected devices and paid the vendor or service provider, you must then submit requests for reimbursement on at least a monthly basis to the FCC. If you received and paid for non-recurring services, you can invoice for those services in one monthly invoice.
To seek reimbursement, you must invoice the FCC using the Invoice Processing Platform (IPP), which is part of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of Fiscal Services. There you should upload the Request for Reimbursement Form and documentation of payment, such as invoices and other supporting documentation, as attachments to that form.
If you are a funding recipient that received a funding commitment on behalf of other eligible health care provider sites, you must also submit a Letter of Authorization (see sample) from participating eligible health care providers authorizing you to accept disbursements on the behalf of those sites. Any funding received by an entity that submitted an application and received a funding commitment on behalf of other eligible health care provider sites shall reimburse the health care provider sites for their respective costs incurred under the COVID-19 Telehealth Program.
Additional information, including Instructions to the Request for Reimbursement Form, can be found at the FCC’s COVID-19 Telehealth Program Invoices and Reimbursements page.
- How do I access or login to the IPP?
After you receive your notification of COVID-19 Telehealth Program funding from the FCC, you should receive two emails from the IPP (from this email address: stls.ipphelpdesk@stls.frb.org). These emails will notify you of your access to the IPP Collector module. The first email contains your IPP User ID. The second contains your temporary password. Please use these to login to the IPP for the first time.
- I haven’t received an e-mail from IPP regarding steps to enroll in the platform. What should I do?
If you do not receive the emails from the IPP with you User ID and temporary password (as mentioned in the answer to the question above), please check your email spam folder or check with your organization’s IT administrator to see if the emails may have been blocked by system settings. If you still are unable to locate the email, or if you have other questions about the IPP site, please contact the IPP Customer Support Helpdesk via email: IPPCustomerSupport@fiscal.treasury.gov or by phone: (866) 973-3131. Telephone support for the IPP is available Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm ET.
- If I did not submit the COVID-19 Telehealth Program Application on behalf of my organization, will I receive the emails to enroll in IPP?
The contact person for your organization that was listed on your application and funding commitment letter will be sent the IPP enrollment emails. However, your organization may already be enrolled in the IPP. If so, the Commission will notify you by email of the name of the IPP Administrator for your entity if your IPP Administrator is not the same person that submitted a COVID-19 Telehealth Program application on behalf of your organization.
The Identified Administrator is the designated person in your organization who can access the IPP and submit invoices. If you would prefer that a different person or persons have the responsibility for submitting the funding recipient’s COVID-19 Telehealth Program invoices, your IPP Administrator can set up IPP access for this person(s).
If the Identified Administrator is no longer in the position that required them to be the IPP Administrator but is still with your organization, they should add new IPP Administrators (at least two are recommended). The IPP Help Desk can assist with the transfer of the IPP Administrator role to another person.
Telephone support for the IPP is available Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm ET. Any questions regarding IPP enrollment, may be directed to the IPP Customer Support Helpdesk via email: IPPCustomerSupport@fiscal.treasury.gov or by phone: (866) 973-3131.
- When does a Letter of Authorization need to be filed?
Applicants that received a funding commitment on behalf of other eligible health care provider sites must have a Letter of Authorization (see Sample Letter of Authorization) on file in order to receive reimbursement for those sites. The Letter of Authorization should be uploaded with the first monthly invoice submission to the IPP. The Letter of Authorization only needs to be uploaded once; thereafter, the FCC will have it on file for use in reviewing future reimbursement requests. We strongly encourage you to use the FCC’s sample Letter of Authorization. If not, your Letter of Authorization, at a minimum, must contain the required authorizations provided in the FCC’s sample Letter of Authorization for your health care provider sites.
- Where do I find the Request for Reimbursement Form and the Letter of Authorization?
Here are links to the Request for Reimbursement Form, Instructions to the Request for Reimbursement Form, and the Sample Letter of Authorization. Additional information on invoicing and reimbursements can be found on this page and at the FCC’s COVID-19 Telehealth Program Invoices and Reimbursements page.
- Which location should be listed as the service or delivery location for eligible services and connected devices provided to patients, or used by our health care professionals to provide telehealth services outside of the health care providers’ brick and mortar location?
The eligible health care provider site for which the eligible connected devices or services were purchased must be listed as the service or delivery location. You must not list individual patient addresses or non-brick and mortar sites where telehealth services are being provided as the service or delivery location.
- How do I know what expenses are eligible for reimbursement under the COVID-19 Telehealth Program?
General guidance regarding eligible services and/or connected devices can be found on the FAQs for the COVID-19 Telehealth Program – see questions 26-30.
COVID-19 Telehealth Program funding will provide eligible health care providers support to purchase telecommunications, information services, and connected devices necessary to provide telehealth services to patients in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The Program will fund only devices (e.g., pulse oximetry, blood pressure monitoring devices, etc.) that are themselves connected, and will not fund unconnected devices that patients can use at home and then manually report the results to their medical professional. Connected devices may include devices with Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connectivity, including devices that connect to a consumer’s phone, for example. Devices for which funding is requested must be integral to patient care.
Funding will not be provided for personnel costs (including but not limited to costs for IT staff, project managers, or medical professionals), marketing costs, administrative expenses, or training costs.
Connected devices purchased on or after March 13, 2020 are eligible for support. For eligible recurring services, funding will be provided for the period of March 13, 2020 through September 30, 2020. Existing services that were not purchased to respond to the coronavirus disease are not eligible for funding.
Examples of eligible services and connected devices that COVID-19 Telehealth Program applicants may seek funding for include:
- Telecommunications Services: Voice services, for health care providers or their patients.
- Information Services: Internet connectivity services for health care providers or their patients; remote patient monitoring platforms and services; patient reported outcome platforms; store and forward services, such as asynchronous transfer of patient images and data for interpretation by a physician; platforms and services to provide synchronous video consultation.
- Connected Devices/Equipment: Tablets, smart phones, or connected devices to receive connected care services at home (e.g., broadband-enabled blood pressure monitors; pulse oximetry monitors) for patient or health care provider use; or telemedicine kiosks/carts for health care provider sites.
For questions related to eligibility of connected devices and/or services, please send an email to TelehlthInvoicSupp@fcc.gov.
- Can I invoice for existing services and/or devices?
Eligible health care providers may apply to receive funding through the COVID-19 Telehealth Program for eligible services and devices purchased on or after March 13, 2020. Invoices that include costs for existing services that were not purchased in response to COVID-19 must be removed from your request for reimbursement because retroactive services are ineligible for funding. However, if existing services were upgraded on or after March 13, 2020 to respond to COVID-19, the costs of the upgrade may be included.
- What should I do if my invoices show a funding period for recurring services beyond the window of March 13, 2020 through September 30, 2020?
For recurring services, funding must be provided for the period March 13, 2020 through September 30, 2020. Costs incurred outside of this window must be removed from your request for reimbursement.
- Can I submit a request for reimbursement for items that I have paid for but have not yet received due to vendor delivery backlogs?
No. You cannot submit a request for reimbursement for services and/or connected devices that have not yet been received. Upon receipt of services and/or connected devices by the eligible health care provider(s), please submit your request for reimbursement and supporting documentation.
- If an invoice from the service provider or vendor includes ineligible items, what do I need to do when submitting the invoice submission?
Be sure to clearly indicate in your invoice submission the items on the invoice that are eligible (e.g., by crossing out the ineligible items on the invoice). On the Request for Reimbursement Form, use the column “Description of Service/Device(s) Purchased” and indicate where on the invoice the reviewer can find the relevant information for that line item.
- How do I know if the invoice submission was received?
You can use IPP’s self-service and drill-down capabilities to check the status of an invoice. If the status for an invoice reads “Pending Approval,” the invoice has been received and is under review.
- Can I make updates or corrections to an invoice submission once submitted?
Once an invoice is submitted, you cannot make updates or corrections to the invoice submission. However, if the status of your submitted invoice is “Pending Submission,” “In Exception,” or “Draft,” you can void the invoice and submit a new invoice with the updates or corrections. Otherwise, the invoice submission will first need to be rejected by the FCC in order to allow any updates or corrections. You will need to contact the FCC at TelehlthInvoicSupp@fcc.gov to make this request.
- If the invoice submission was rejected, what do I need to do?
This depends on the reason for the rejection, which will be provided in the messaging that accompanies your invoice submission rejection. A note accompanying a rejection may read, “Your invoice lacks information necessary to process. Please resubmit with: (1) Request for Reimbursement Form; and (2) Letter of Authorization.” After correcting the reason for the rejection, please resubmit your invoice submission with the missing information. You will not have re-enter all the information you previously entered, just the missing information and/or any corrections to your previous submission.
If your invoice is rejected and you do not receive a message with an explanation, send an email to TelehlthInvoicSupp@fcc.gov. Please provide the Applicant Name and Funding Commitment Number in the subject line of the email and, in the text of the email, reference the invoice at issue.
- What is the processing time for invoices once submitted?
The FCC’s goal is to pay invoices on a timely basis; however, requests for reimbursement that contain incomplete information, or request funding for ineligible services or devices, may delay processing. (See Question #10 of the FAQs for the COVID-19 Telehealth Program.) To ensure that the FCC can promptly provide reimbursement, please be sure to include all required information in the Request for Reimbursement Form and supporting documentation.
- Which entity issues the payment, and where is the payment sent?
The U.S. Department of the Treasury will issue the payments. The payments will be sent by Automated Clearing House (ACH) to the bank account on file associated with the funding recipient. Your banking information was previously provided when you registered with the federal System for Award Management.
- Is there a deadline for submitting invoices?
There is no deadline for submitting invoices at this time. Funding recipients, however, are required to submit their invoices on at least a monthly basis in order to receive reimbursement.
- Where can I find additional information?
More information can be found on the FCC’s COVID-19 Telehealth Program and COVID-19 Telehealth Program Invoices and Reimbursements pages. Questions specific to your Request for Reimbursement Form and submission of invoices should be directed to TelehlthInvoicSupp@fcc.gov.
