-mHealth Intelligence
– Some $200 million is available right now to help healthcare providers launch or expand telehealth programs during the Coronavirus pandemic, and another $100 million is set aside to expand connected health programs to rural areas over the next three years.
All courtesy of the Federal Communications Commission, whose goal is to improve the lines of communication – literally – upon which these platforms operate.
(For more coronavirus updates, visit our resource page, updated twice daily by Xtelligent Healthcare Media.)
“We’ve been active in supporting internet connectivity in telehealth for really over a decade,” says Brendan Carr, one of the FCC’s five commissioners. “What we’ve primarily done is support through funding high-speed connections to brick-and-mortar healthcare facilities, and that type of work has delivered some really amazing results.”
During an episode of Xtelligent Healthcare Media’s Healthcare Strategies podcast series recorded earlier this week, Carr explained how telehealth programs across the country are moving toward what he calls “connected care,” which changes the dynamic from patients seeking care at a hospital to patients accessing care at their convenience.
