The Federal Communications Commission Connected Care Pilot Program has approved 36 projects with funding of $15,337,689. It is the third set of awards made in the program.
The awards bring the number of funded projects to 93 in 36 states and the District of Columbia. Funding awarded to date totals more than $69.3 million.
The program, which will make as much as $100 million available from the Universal Service Fund during a three-year period, supports connected care services via broadband to patients’ homes or mobile locations. Potential use cases include maternal health/high-risk pregnancy, COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, opioid dependency, mental health and chronic or recurring conditions, according to the FCC. The emphasis is on serving low-income and veteran patients.
The Connected Care Pilot Program awards named in the press release include:
Adult MH & SA Outpatient Services (Barrow, AK); Charles Judd Community Health Center (Honolulu, HI); Children with Special Health Needs Branch-State Dept. of Health (Honolulu, HI); Christian Family Solutions (Mankato, MN); Christian Family Solutions (Lakeville, MN); Christian Family Solutions (Waukesha, WI) Circare (Syracuse, NY); Conway Medical (Conway, SC); Cooper Health System (Camden, NJ); Covington County Hospital (Collins, MS); Crisp Regional Hospital (Cordele, GA) and Forensics, Salt Lake City, UT; Valley EPIC Outpatient, Taylorsville, UT); Highland Springs Specialty Clinic Holladay (Salt Lake City); Highland Springs Specialty Clinic American Fork, American Fork, UT; Carmen Pingree Autism Center of Learning, Salt Lake City, UT; Kids Intensive Day Services, Midvale, UT; CORE Recovery Management Outpatient Services, Salt Lake City, UT; Valleywest, West Valley City, UT; Children’s Outpatient Services, Salt Lake City;
Also: Friend Health (Chicago); Long Island Select Healthcare, Inc. (five sites on Long Island, NY); Marion General Hospital (Marion, IN); Metro Health (Washington, DC); MFA 2150 C-19 (Washington, DC); New York Psychotherapy and Counseling Center (Bronx Child and Family Mental Health Center, Bronx, NY); North County Health Services (San Marcos, CA); Norwegian American Hospital (Chicago); NY Community Broadband Partnership (sites in Sodus, NY; Port Byron, NY; Geneva, NY; Bath, NY; Newark, NY; Penn Yan, NY; Ovid, NY;and Dundee, NY); One Brooklyn Health System, consortium with sites in (Brooklyn, NY); Parkview Consortium, consortium with (seven sites in Indiana and Ohio); Sky Lakes Medical Center, (Klamath Falls, OR); Trinity Health Consortium (Darby, PA, and Langhorne, PA); Western New York Rural Area Health Education Center, Inc. (a consortium with 13 sites in Erie County, Niagara County, and Genesee County, NY); Winchester Medical Center (Winchester, VA) and Youth Outreach Services, (a consortium three sites in Chicago).
The intention to create the Connected Care pilot program was announced in July 2018. The first application window opened on November 6, 2020. The FCC began making Connected Care pilot program awards not long after.
Funding a lot of provider technology without building out broadband in rural areas only expands the care divide between the haves and have-nots.