FCC Announces Details For January 31, 2013 Telemedicine Demonstration

The Federal Communications Commission announced details for a January 31, 2013 telemedicine demonstration by Georgia Telehealth Partnership, in conjunction with an FCC staff presentation at the Open Commission meeting earlier that day regarding the FCC’s ongoing work to expand broadband access and spectrum availability for health care uses.

Telemedicine and telehealth applications can improve the quality of health care delivered to patients in rural areas, generate savings in the cost of providing health care, and reduce the time and expense associated with travel to distant locations to receive or provide care. The demonstration will include a simulated patient examination with the Coffee Regional Medical Center in Bacon County, Georgia, a participant in the Rural Health Care Pilot Program. The demonstration will be followed by audience questions and comments.

The demonstration will highlight some of the technology applications that will be enabled by FCC initiatives. In particular, the FCC created the Rural Health Care (RHC) program to improve access to communications services for eligible health care providers. In December 2012, the Commission reformed and streamlined this program, creating a new, efficient Healthcare Connect Fund. Healthcare Connect will expand health care provider access to broadband, especially in rural areas, and encourage the creation of state and regional broadband health care networks. The new program will continue to help health care providers obtain broadband to implement telemedicine and telehealth applications.