Johns Hopkins, UMMC Receive FCC COVID-19 Telehealth Program Funding

Five large health systems are among the 53 providers included in the Federal Communications Commission’s eight round of COVID-19 Telehealth Program grants.

Drawing from a $200 billion fund created through the CARES Act, the FCC has so far awarded $68.22 million in funding to 185 healthcare providers in 38 states and Washington DC.

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The COVID-19 Telehealth Program is not a grant program. To receive disbursements, healthcare providers will be required to submit an invoicing form and supporting documentation to receive reimbursement for eligible expenses and services.

The latest group features some high-profile programs, including:

• The Johns Hopkins Health System in Baltimore, which is getting $1 million to create a virtual ICU, a COVID-19 Ambulatory Response Team and a regional public-private program to expand telehealth to surrounding communities;
• NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, which is getting $1 million to develop a virtual ICU;
• Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, which was awarded $902,290 to expand its telehealth and remote patient monitoring programs for patients with COVID-19 and others needing access to specialty care;
• University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, which was awarded $821,882 to expand its telehealth network throughout an 18-county area of Ohio, serving some 1.3 million patients; and
• The University of Mississippi Medical Center and UMMC Consortium, which was awarded $1 million to develop a COVID-19 triage program and expand its telehealth services to help those not infected with COVID-19 to access care.

Other hospitals and health systems in the latest round include Central Maine Medical Center, Conway Hospital in Conway, SC, Franciscan Health in Indianapolis, Heartland Regional Medical Center in Saint Joseph, MO, and Novant Health in Winston-Salem, NC.

A full list of the latest award winners can be found here.

The latest announcement comes more than a week after lawmakers questioned whether the FCC was disbursing funds from the program in a timely fashion. During a Capitol Hill appearance, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said the agency, at that time, had received only certified invoice from a provider.

“We will continue to process those as they come in,” he said.