November 19, 2007

Federal Communications Commission Announces Programs Eligible for Telehealth Grants

The selected participants will be eligible for universal service funding to support up to 85% of the costs associated with the construction of state or regional broadband health care networks and with the advanced telecommunications and information services provided over those networks. In addition, the FCC modified the pilot program so that the participants will share about $139 million for each funding year.

The participants will coordinate their networks with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The networks will support DHHS health information technology (IT) initiatives. Where feasible, the participants network projects will feature the following aspects:

• Meet interoperability standards recognized by the DHHS Secretary for health IT systems

• Use health IT products certified by the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology

• Support the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) architecture by coordinating their activities with the organizations performing NHIN trial implementations

• Employ resources available at HHSs Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality National Resource Center for Health Information Technology

• Coordinate with DHHS concerning the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act requirements

• Use resources available through CDCs Public Health Information Network (PHIN) to facilitate interoperability