FCC Establishes COVID-19 Telehealth Program
On April 2, 2020, the FCC issued a Report and Order establishing the short-term COVID-19 Telehealth Program. Support is not limited to rural health care providers (HCPs).
For purposes of the Report and Order, the Commission defined “connected care services” as “a subset of telehealth that uses broadband Internet access service-enabled technologies to deliver remote medical, diagnostic, patient-centered, and treatment-related services directly to patients outside of traditional brick and mortar medical facilities—including specifically to patients at their mobile location or residence.”
Examples of connected care services delivered to patients at their residence or mobile location rather than a health care provider’s physical location include, but are not limited to, remote patient monitoring, patient health education, store and forward services (e.g., asynchronous transfer of patient images and data for interpretation by a physician), and synchronous video consultations and visits.
• The Report and Order established the COVID-19 Telehealth Program, a $200 million telehealth program separate from the broader Connected Care Pilot Program, to support healthcare providers responding to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
• Funds for the COVID-19 Telehealth Program were appropriated by Congress through the CARES Act and will not rely on USF support. These funds will be available until depleted or until the current pandemic has ended, and applicants may request additional support after exhausting their initial award. Applicants may also later apply for support under the broader Connected Care Pilot Program, but may not request funding for the same exact services from both programs.
• Eligible applicants include nonprofit and public eligible health care providers, and specifically: (1) post-secondary educational institutions offering health care instruction, teaching hospitals, and medical schools; (2) community health centers or health centers providing health care to migrants; (3) local health departments or agencies; (4) community mental health centers; (5) not-for-profit hospitals; (6) rural health clinics; (7) skilled nursing facilities; and (8) consortia of health care providers consisting of one or more entities falling into the first seven categories.
• Eligible Services. The COVID-19 Telehealth Program will fund the full costs of eligible telecommunications services, information services, and devices necessary to enable the provision of telehealth services, on a temporary basis. Unlike the RHC program, the COVID-19 Telehealth Program will fund monitoring devices (such as pulse-ox and BP monitoring devices) that are themselves connected. However, unconnected devices that patients can use at home are not eligible for support. Applicants may purchase any necessary eligible services and connected devices and are not limited to those identified in their applications.
• Funding priority for the COVID-19 Telehealth Program will be given to health care providers in areas that have been hardest hit by COVID-19 and where the support will have the most impact. Applicants are encouraged to target funding to “high-risk and vulnerable patients to the extent practicable.” Although applicants may use the program to treat patients that have COVID-19, the program is not limited to treating only those patients as long as funds are used “to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus.” The Commission broadly defined this, stating treating non-COVID-19 patients could free up other resources or allow HCPs to treat patients remotely, thereby reducing their exposure.
• Application Process. The Commission will begin accepting applications for this emergency program immediately after publication of the Report and Order in the Federal Register (typically about 30 days after release of an order). For more details about the application process, review paragraphs 23 through 27 of the Order.
• No competitive bidding process is required, and the RHC gift rules do not apply. HCPs must retain records for three years from the last date of service under the program. Selected HCPs must submit a report on the effectiveness of the program, with details to be determined later by the Commission.
For purposes of the Report and Order, the Commission defined “connected care services” as “a subset of telehealth that uses broadband Internet access service-enabled technologies to deliver remote medical, diagnostic, patient-centered, and treatment-related services directly to patients outside of traditional brick and mortar medical facilities—including specifically to patients at their mobile location or residence.”
Examples of connected care services delivered to patients at their residence or mobile location rather than a health care provider’s physical location include, but are not limited to, remote patient monitoring, patient health education, store and forward services (e.g., asynchronous transfer of patient images and data for interpretation by a physician), and synchronous video consultations and visits.
• The Report and Order established the COVID-19 Telehealth Program, a $200 million telehealth program separate from the broader Connected Care Pilot Program, to support healthcare providers responding to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
• Funds for the COVID-19 Telehealth Program were appropriated by Congress through the CARES Act and will not rely on USF support. These funds will be available until depleted or until the current pandemic has ended, and applicants may request additional support after exhausting their initial award. Applicants may also later apply for support under the broader Connected Care Pilot Program, but may not request funding for the same exact services from both programs.
• Eligible applicants include nonprofit and public eligible health care providers, and specifically: (1) post-secondary educational institutions offering health care instruction, teaching hospitals, and medical schools; (2) community health centers or health centers providing health care to migrants; (3) local health departments or agencies; (4) community mental health centers; (5) not-for-profit hospitals; (6) rural health clinics; (7) skilled nursing facilities; and (8) consortia of health care providers consisting of one or more entities falling into the first seven categories.
• Eligible Services. The COVID-19 Telehealth Program will fund the full costs of eligible telecommunications services, information services, and devices necessary to enable the provision of telehealth services, on a temporary basis. Unlike the RHC program, the COVID-19 Telehealth Program will fund monitoring devices (such as pulse-ox and BP monitoring devices) that are themselves connected. However, unconnected devices that patients can use at home are not eligible for support. Applicants may purchase any necessary eligible services and connected devices and are not limited to those identified in their applications.
• Funding priority for the COVID-19 Telehealth Program will be given to health care providers in areas that have been hardest hit by COVID-19 and where the support will have the most impact. Applicants are encouraged to target funding to “high-risk and vulnerable patients to the extent practicable.” Although applicants may use the program to treat patients that have COVID-19, the program is not limited to treating only those patients as long as funds are used “to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus.” The Commission broadly defined this, stating treating non-COVID-19 patients could free up other resources or allow HCPs to treat patients remotely, thereby reducing their exposure.
• Application Process. The Commission will begin accepting applications for this emergency program immediately after publication of the Report and Order in the Federal Register (typically about 30 days after release of an order). For more details about the application process, review paragraphs 23 through 27 of the Order.
• No competitive bidding process is required, and the RHC gift rules do not apply. HCPs must retain records for three years from the last date of service under the program. Selected HCPs must submit a report on the effectiveness of the program, with details to be determined later by the Commission.
