AHA recommends changes to FCC Healthcare Connect Fund

The AHA today recommended several changes to the Federal Communications Commission’s Healthcare Connect Fund to enhance participation and access to broadband for rural health care services. Specifically, AHA recommends that the FCC increase the HCF discount percentage from 65% to 85%; allow funding for consortium administrative expenses; streamline program administration; consider making remote patient monitoring an eligible expense; and reconsider using a more inclusive definition of rural. “Growth in the use of electronic health records, technology-based patient engagement strategies, telehealth and remote-monitoring technologies all require access to robust broadband connections,” noted Ashley Thompson, AHA senior vice president for public policy analysis and development, in comments submitted to the agency. “Further, the move to more coordinated care requires ever greater exchange of health information among providers...[M]any areas of the country continue to lack the broadband access needed to support modern forms of health care, highlighting the importance” of the FCC’s support for rural broadband.