Has anyone heard of the “FCC Covid Telehealth Grant” https://www.fcc.gov/covid-19-telehealth-program and if so has anyone applied? What do we think the likelihood small private practices will qualify? I don’t have a DUN or SAM number so would be appling for numbers before I could even apply for the grant. Wondering if its worth it since the amount I’d be asking for would be small (new router, cover the cost of doxyme professional and internet service through 9/30/2020; so $2500-3000). TIA
I looked into this and found some information:
FCC-20-44A1.pdf (1.0 MB)
If the attached info is the same program, it may be difficult for private practices to be eligible to participate:
• The eligible health care provider opts into an existing MSA approved under the Rural
Health Care Pilot Program or Healthcare Connect Fund Program and seeks support for
services and equipment purchased from the MSA, if the MSA was developed and
negotiated in response to an RFP that specifically solicited proposals that included a
mechanism for adding additional sites to the MSA;200
• The eligible health care provider has a multi-year contract designated as “evergreen” by
USAC and seeks to exercise a voluntary option to extend an evergreen contract without
undergoing additional competitive bidding;201
• The eligible health care provider is in a consortium with participants in the schools and
libraries universal service support program (E-Rate program) and a party to the
consortium’s existing contract, if the contract was approved in the E-Rate program as a
master contract;202
• The eligible health care provider seeks support for $10,000 or less of total undiscounted
eligible expenses for a single year, if the term of the contract is one year or less;203 or
• The eligible health care provider already has entered into a legally binding agreement
with a service provider for services or equipment eligible for support in the Pilot Program
and that legally binding agreement itself was the product of competitive bidding.
I think it is the same program and indeed the document you attached is longer than a discharge summary so may not be good reading for many Primary Care Pediatricians. Here is a link to the FCC FAQs https://www.fcc.gov/covid-19-telehealth-program-frequently-asked-questions-faqs
I did apply and I am waiting to hear what the outcome is. The bottlenecks are the numerous systems one has to be registered with. If you do not already have a DUNS number, I think you should apply for it. It takes some time but good to start and get going. Good luck.
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Thanks Paulie, yes if those are the requirements for eligibility, I don’t think we would qualify, as tose acronyms and programs don’t mean anything to me! And thanks Realtime, great reference to discharge summaries!
Was I reading the eligibility question in the FAQ link correctly that non-rural, privately owned, non-academically affiliated practices are not eligible?
Within the application it states that even non-rural pediatricians can apply.
I believe there was a stipulation for these funds in regard to COVID-19 that private practices do not need to be rural to qualify. I applied about a week ago. It was very time consuming as I had to register with a few different sites that I was completely unfamiliar with. I applied for $3000 for equipment for at home telemedicine use and the cost of our telehealth provider. I only received a confirmation that my application was received but nothing since then.
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