New Telehealth Broadband Pilot to Address Rural Connectivity in 4 States
The Health and Human Services Department is investing $8 million in a new program, run by the National Telehealth Technology Assessment Resource Center, to expand connectivity in rural parts of Alaska, Michigan, Texas and West Virginia.
Federal officials are investing $8 million in a new pilot aimed at expanding broadband connectivity for telehealth programs in four states.
The Health and Human Services Department, through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is awarding $6.5 million to the National Telehealth Technology Assessment Resource Center (TTAC) and another $1.5 million to the Telehealth-Focused Rural Health Research Center at the University of Arkansas to launch the Telehealth Broadband Pilot (TBT). The three-year pilot program aims to improve connectivity in rural parts of Alaska, Michigan, Texas and West Virginia to support connected health programs.
The new program is one of several aimed at boosting broadband connectivity in rural parts of the country. Lack of available resources is one of the more pronounced barriers to telehealth adoption, keeping residents from accessing healthcare and healthcare providers from expanding their telehealth networks.
"HHS has made it a priority to transform rural healthcare, including through innovations like telehealth, where we've seen many years' worth of progress in just the past year," HHS Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan said in a press release. "As someone who hails from rural America, supporting delivery of care in the most remote parts of America, like Alaska, is a personal passion of mine, and telehealth is a crucial part of that work. This telehealth pilot program is part of the Rural Action Plan that HHS launched this past year, which lays out a path forward to coordinate agency efforts to transform and improve rural health care in tangible ways."
TTAC, based in Alaska with the Alaska Native Tribal Consortium, is part of the National Consortium of Telehealth Resource Centers, a network of 12 regional and two national programs offering guidance and resources for telehealth programs across the country. TTAC will implement the program in the four targeted states.
The Telehealth-Focused Rural Health Research Center, which is getting its $1.5 million award from HRSA’s Office for Rural Health Policy, will evaluate the program’s development and act as a resource for similar rural telehealth efforts across the country.
TBP was borne out of a partnership announced in September 2020 between HHS, the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Agriculture to create an interagency Rural Telehealth Task Force and the Rural Telehealth Initiative.
This project comes as the FCC is set to launch its Connected Care Pilot Program and jump-start its COVID-19 Telehealth Program, both designed to fund broadband expansion for telehealth programs that address barriers to access.
The three-year, $100 million Connected Care Pilot Program, unveiled in 2018, is aimed at expanding telehealth access for low-income Americans, veterans and other vulnerable populations. The FCC accepted applications for the program in November 2020 and is expected to soon announce who will receive funding.
The COVID-19 Telehealth Program was launched in April 2020 with $200 million in funding from the CARES Act, and issued awards to some 540 healthcare programs across the country before running out of funding in July. Another $250 million was appropriated for the program in last month’s coronavirus relief bill, and the FCC is now seeking advice on how to fine-tune the evaluation and selection process.