The Federal Communications Commission has unveiled a new health care connectivity program with the goal of expanding broadband access in rural communities nationwide.

The new rules are a part of FCC's overall broadband plan. The program would allocate up to $400 million to improve and enable Internet connections in health care facilities that need them.

"It's part of our moving forward with the priorities that are outlined pretty clearly in our broadband plan, so we're hoping that we can really meet the needs of our rural residents," Mark Wigfield, spokesman for the FCC, told DOTmed News.

According to the FCC, only 8 percent of the Indian Health Service providers have access to the quality of broadband they need to provide advanced health care services to their patients. In addition, nearly 30 percent of federally funded rural health care clinics cannot afford adequate broadband services, said Wigfield.

The proposed rules are a follow-up to FCC's Rural Health Care Pilot Program, which was launched in 2007. The program successfully established 62 projects in 44 states, explained Wigfield, but it's coming to an end. "It's underway but the problem is that it basically expires next year," said Wigfield. "Nobody else would be able to apply. We see a need for infrastructure that can serve these rural clinics and we're trying to put the program in place so that we continue to do that."

The proposed rules would enable more than 2,000 rural hospitals and clinics to secure affordable broadband services, according to the FCC.

In the new rules, FCC proposes the formation of partnerships with health care providers to invest into infrastructure for broadband networks in rural areas. The FCC also accounts for the continuous affordability of the access to services by increasing financial support.

"In the past, it was a 25 percent contribution towards your broadband bill and now that's moved up to 50 percent," said Wigfield. "We just discovered that 25 percent wasn't enough to make it worthwhile for people to do this."

The FCC also hopes to connect facilities beyond the traditional hospitals and clinics by making institutions such as nursing facilities, renal dialysis centers and off-site administrative offices eligible participants in the program.

"Overall, I think the main thing that it does is that it's trying to reach out to provide connectivity where it is needed," said Wigfield. "In the past, it would have to be in the clinic or in the hospital but it turns out, some of these services aren't necessarily inside the hospital building," he said.

The proposed rules will be open for public comment for 45 days.

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