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Rural Health Care Update
April 2007

   

Filing Window Now Open for Rural Health Care Program Support
The application window for Funding Year 2007 (FY2007) opened March 12, 2007.  During the filing window applicants will be able to post their FY2007 Form 465 (Description of Services Requested & Certification Form) to the USAC website for Funding Year 2007, which runs from July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008. Below are some tips and links to help you with the application process.

  1. To be eligible for a full year's support,  applicants must post Form 465 to USAC's website by June 2, 2007, unless you have an evergreen contract (see below). Remember you must wait 28 days to receive bids before entering into a service agreement.
  2. If you have an evergreen contract and are considering changing your service or renewing your contract during FY2007, you should post a new Form 465.  Evergreen contracts must have been verified by USAC in a prior Funding Year.
  3. If you have enabled E-Cert, go to Applicant Login to submit and post a Form 465.  If you have not enabled E-Cert, but are eligible as a prior applicant, login and enable E-Cert before completing Form 465.

You may also download Excel or PDF versions of Form 465 from USAC's website.

See other tips and best practices on the USAC website.  If you have any questions, please call our customer service center at (800) 229-5476.

Rural Health Care Pilot Program Applications Due to FCC May 7, 2007
On March 8, 2007, the Federal Communications Commission received Office of Management and Budget approval of the form to be used for its Rural Health Care Pilot Program.
Specifically, the FCC requested that applicants seeking to participate in the pilot program submit the following information:

  1. The organization that will be legally and financially responsible for the conduct of activities supported by the fund;
  2. The goals and objectives of the proposed network;
  3. The network's total estimated costs for each year;
  4. A description of how for-profit network participants will pay their fair share of the network costs;
  5. The source of financial support and anticipated revenues that will pay for costs not covered by the fund;
  6. A list of the health care facilities that will be included in the network;
  7. The address, ZIP code, Rural Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) code and phone number for each health care facility participating in the network;
  8. A description of the applicant's previous experience in developing and managing telemedicine programs;
  9. A project management plan outlining the project's leadership and management structure, as well as its work plan, schedule, and budget;
  10. A description of how the telemedicine program will be coordinated throughout the state or region; and
  11. An indication of to what extent the network can be self-sustaining once established.

Under the pilot program, selected applicants may receive up to 85% of the costs of building state and regional broadband networks and connecting those networks to Internet2 or National LambdaRail, Inc., dedicated nationwide backbone providers, as well as the costs of the advanced telecommunications and information services that will ride over those networks. Selected applicants may also receive up to 85% of the costs of connecting to the public Internet.

View FCC 06-144, the FCC order adopted September 26, 2006, establishing the pilot program.

View FCC 07-6, the FCC's reconsideration order adopted February 6, 2007, modifying the program.

Reply Comments on ATA's Petition for Grandfathering Rural Sites due May 14, 2007
In March 2005, the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) filed a Petition for Reconsideration of the Federal Communications Commission's Second Report and Order (FCC 04-289 released December 17, 2004). ATA requested that the FCC grandfather, for an indefinite period of time, rural sites that were no longer eligible for rural health care support under the new definition of rural in the Second Report and Order, but that were eligible prior to the date of the Second Report and Order.

In a public notice released March 13, 2007 (DA 07-1237 ), the FCC sought comments on ATA's petition. The comment period is over, but reply comments may be filed until May 14, 2007 in docket number 02-60. You can view comments filed in this proceeding on the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS). Under the "Proceeding" field, enter "02-60" and under the date field (#7) enter from 03/14/2007 to present (e.g., 04/16/2007) and click the "Retrieve Document List" button to see the comments filed in response to this public notice. The ECFS main page provides instructions on how to file comments electronically in FCC proceedings.

USAC RHC VP Bill England to Speak at ATA 2007 Conference in Nashville
USAC Rural Health Care Division personnel will be on hand at the American Telemedicine Association's Annual Conference, ATA 2007, to be held in Nashville, Tennessee, May 13 through May 15. USAC personnel will be there to answer your questions about the Universal Service Fund Rural Health Care Program as well as the FCC's Pilot Program (see article in this issue). Stop by to learn about how to participate in the program, what services are eligible for program discounts, and whether you can better take advantage of program funding. Stop by Booth #624 to chat with the RHC team.

Bill England, the division's vice president, will give an update Monday, May 14 at 2:00 p.m. on current program issues including eligibility, service coverage, the application process, best practices to insure full funding and the $100 million of new funding to be made available under the FCC's Rural Health Care Pilot Project. The presentation will also report and discuss program statistics including geographic analysis of program participation by state.

Bill will also participate in a Telemedicine Continuing Education course titled, Telehealth Business Sustainability, sponsored by the Business and Finance Special Interest Group on Sunday, May 13 from 12:30-4:00 p.m. The course will cover the critical business plan attributes necessary for success in an enterprise or a privately-funded, self-sustaining telehealth program. Vignettes from "conception to completion" of provider or business-related initiatives will be employed in this course including case studies that may use interactive, store and forward, research and development, and remote monitoring telemedicine products and services.

Visit USAC's Booth at NRHA's Annual Conference in Anchorage
USAC Rural Health Care Division personnel also will be on hand at the National Rural Health Association's Annual Conference to be held in Anchorage, Alaska, May 16 through May 18. Bill England, the division's vice president, and other staff persons will be there to answer your questions about the Universal Service Fund Rural Health Care Program as well as the FCC's Pilot Program (see article in this issue). Stop by Booth #44 to chat with Bill and his team.

Overview of the Program
The Rural Health Care Program of the Universal Service Fund (USF), which is administered by the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), is a support program authorized by Congress and designed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to provide reduced rates to rural health care providers (HCPs) for telecommunications services and Internet access charges related to the use of telemedicine and telehealth.

What does it mean to health care providers?
Support is available for telecommunications services and monthly Internet access charges used for the provision of health care. The level of support depends on the location and the type of services chosen and is calculated individually for each health care provider.

How does a health care provider determine its needs?
A health care provider should assess its situation to determine its needs. How will telecommunications or Internet services be used? Is there a need to transmit data, images, or interactive video? With whom does the health care provider want to communicate most frequently? Contact the telecommunications carriers and Internet service providers serving the area to determine needs and to learn about available services.

Overview of the Application Process
Rural health care providers and service providers that participate in the Rural Health Care Program have certain requirements and responsibilities that must be met in order to receive support in a timely manner. Below is an overview of the steps involved for applicants and service providers. Follow the links to learn more about each step.

You can also view a narrative overview of the process on the Rural Health Care section of the USAC website.

You may download and print copies of Rural Health Care Newsletter on USAC's website. You may subscribe to or unsubscribe from this news brief. For program information, please visit the Rural Health Care area of the USAC website. Feel free to forward this newsletter to any interested parties. USAC appreciates feedback on this newsletter.

For any questions or comments, please contact Ed Rovetto, Program Manager, External Relations, at erovetto@usac.org. Please do not reply to this email directly, as it was sent from an unattended mailbox.

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