FCC Announces $417M In Grants To Help Rural Health Care Groups Build Internet Networks To Connect Clinics

Main Category: IT / Internet / E-mail
Also Included In: Primary Care / General Practice
Article Date: 21 Nov 2007 - 6:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

The Federal Communications Commission on Monday announced $417 million in grants to help rural health care groups build high-speed Internet connections that will allow clinics to connect with medical resources in urban areas, the Washington Post reports. The three-year pilot project will focus on expanding broadband communication lines to about 6,000 rural hospitals, research centers, universities and clinics -- many of which use dial-up Internet connections. The faster connections could allow rural care providers to upload patient records or send videos and pictures of illnesses to physicians at other facilities.

FCC Chair Kevin Martin said the program also could reduce health costs by allowing physicians and nurses to remotely monitor patients with chronic diseases, which could prevent costly hospital visits. Martin on Monday said the program will "play a critical role in the way technology will transform health care," adding, "Not only will a telehealth network connect doctors to patients who have never had access to medical treatment, but they can have access to the top resources on the other side of the country."

The program will be funded with money from the universal service fund, which is collected from long-distance and wireless service subscribers and subsidizes phone and Internet services to educational institutions and libraries, and low-incomes people in rural areas, the Post reports. The funds allocated for telehealth services have been underutilized, prompting FCC to launch the initiative, according to Martin. FCC will reimburse 69 organizations for establishing broadband network infrastructure.

Robert Kolodner, national coordinator for health information technology at HHS, said the difference in the level of health care services provided to people in rural areas, compared with those in urban areas, is intensified by the lack of high-speed lines. Kolodner said he hopes the program will "take away [the] barrier" to attract more physicians to use electronic medical records, adding, "Trying to do this on dial-up would be essentially impossible" (Hart, Washington Post, 11/20).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

• Additional
• References
• Citations