FCC Adopts Pilot Program Under Rural Health Care Mechanism

FCC ADOPTS PILOT PROGRAM UNDER RURAL HEALTH CARE MECHANISM
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
The Federal Communications Commission adopted an Order that establishes a pilot program to help public and non-profit health care providers build state and region-wide broadband networks dedicated to the provision of health care services, and connect those networks to Internet2, a dedicated nationwide backbone. The construction of such networks will bring the benefits of innovative telehealth, and particularly, telemedicine services to those areas of the country where the need for those benefits is most acute. The pilot program is designed to encourage health care providers to join together to aggregate their needs and develop a strategy for creating statewide and/or regional networks that will connect numerous health care providers, including rural health care providers, through a dedicated, broadband network. The pilot program will fund up to 85% of the costs incurred to deploy state or regional broadband networks dedicated to health care. The pilot program will also fund up to 85% of the costs of connecting the regional and/or statewide to Internet2, a dedicated nationwide backbone that connects a number of government research institutions, as well as academic, public, and private health care institutions that are repositories of medical expertise and information. Interested parties should submit their applications to the Commission 30 days after Office of Management and Budget approval of the information collection requirements in the Order.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-267605A1.doc