Telemedicine, Broadband Access Could Grow Under Pilot Program

Rural family physicians soon may be joining their urban counterparts in projects to increase broadband telemedicine capabilities. Those projects would result from a Federal Communications Commission initiative to increase the use of telemedicine by improving rural physicians' access to broadband telecommunications systems.

The FCC announced in late September it would use its rural health care, or RHC, funding mechanism for the projects. Under a pilot program, the agency would provide up to 85 percent of the cost of constructing state or regional telecommunications networks, including "any necessary network design studies." It also would fund up to 85 percent of the costs of connecting to Internet2, a dedicated nationwide backbone that links users to government research institutions and academic, public and private health care institutions.

The FCC announcement about the pilot program (PDF file: 14 pages / 166 KB. More about PDFs.) calls for project proposals from public and nonprofit health care providers to build and connect to statewide and regional broadband networks that can help provide health care services.

The pilot program offers several advantages, according to the FCC announcement. Foremost is development of a national system that links rural physicians and patients to urban medical and research centers through telemedicine. Specific funding would ensure that rural physicians have access to broadband connectivity.

"Our RHC program provides reduced rates to rural health care providers for their telecommunications and Internet services," the proposal says. "The primary goal of our existing rules is to ensure that rural health care providers pay no more than their urban counterparts for their telecommunications needs in the provision of health care services."

Moreover, such connectivity would provide "vital links for disaster preparedness and emergency response," the FCC proposal says.

"A dedicated national broadband health care network will also facilitate (President Bush's) goal of implementing electronic medical records nationwide," said FCC Chair Kevin Martin in a statement about the proposal. (PDF file: 1 page / 68 KB. More about PDFs.)

The FCC will "give considerable weight to applications that propose to connect the rural health care providers in a given state or region," the FCC announcement says, noting that proposals to connect only a minimal number of rural health care providers would not be acceptable.

Health care networks of physicians, hospitals and others can submit proposals electronically via the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System. Paper applications also may be submitted; filing instructions are included in the FCC pilot program announcement.