Earlier this week the FCC announced that up to $400 million in annual funding will be made available to healthcare providers as part of the FCC’s new Healthcare Connect Fund. Here are a couple of highlights from their press release…

• The new Healthcare Connect Fund Program Goals:

  • Increase access to broadband for health care providers (HCPs), especially those serving rural areas.
  • Foster development and deployment of broadband health care networks.
  • Maximize impact of the FCC’s universal service health care funding

How the Healthcare Connect Fund Works:

• The Fund will provide patients at hospitals and clinics around the country access to specialists at major healthcenters through telemedicine, and support the exchange of electronic health records (EHRs), leading to better coordination of patient care and lower costs.  Specifically, the Fund will:

• Support broadband connectivity and broadband networks for HCPs.

• Encourage formation of state and regional health care consortia to save costs and expand access to health care.

• Provide a 65% discount on broadband services, equipment, connections to research and education networks, and HCP-constructed and owned facilities (if shown to be the most cost-effective connectivity option), while requiring a 35% HCP contribution.

• The FCC will begin accepting applications for the Healthcare Connect Fund beginning in late summer of 2013.

• Eligibility: Public or not-for-profit hospitals, rural health clinics, community health centers, health centers serving migrants, community mental health centers, local health departments or agencies, post-secondary educational institutions/teaching hospitals/medical schools, or a consortia of the above

  • Non-rural HCPs may participate in Healthcare Connect Fund as part of consortia; consortia must remain majority rural

• Funding Caps

  • Cap on total funding for FCC Rural Health Care Programs, including Healthcare Connect Fund and Skilled Nursing Facilities Pilot, is $400 million annually.

  • Cap for upfront payments in Healthcare Connect Fund is $150 million annually.

So as they say, the will begin accepting applications this summer, so might be a good time to be thinking about how to make it work in your area.