FCC Launches Inquiry Into Broadband Connectivity for Maternal Health

The Federal Communications Commission launched a proceeding designed to explore ways the FCC’s Mapping Broadband Health in America platform could be expanded and enhanced to help better leverage digital health tools to improve maternal care. The FCC seeks comment on issues that will help guide the next phase of this mapping platform and inform associated data analytics work concerning the relationship between broadband and maternal health. This would include future plans to incorporate additional maternal health variables, other relevant data, and functionalities; to assess how best to address data limitations while still protecting privacy and confidentiality; and to ensure that future updates result in improved user experience and actionable insights. In addition, this proceeding will also seek information and comment on current uses of broadband-enabled health technologies, solutions, and services that are available and being used in maternal health care, as well as the range of barriers that prevent access and utilization by childbearing women or women receiving postpartum care. Lastly, it will seek comment on potential actions or activities the Commission could pursue to help improve maternal health outcomes; to reduce maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity rates; and to promote maternal health equity