AMIA Lends Support to FCC Telehealth Pilot Program

In comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), AMIA supported its proposal to create a new Connected Care Pilot program that funds connected care projects for low-income Americans and veterans. The pilot would help providers fund broadband services for patients who will participate in telehealth studies; FCC hopes to measure the relationship between affordable patient broadband internet access service and the availability of quality health care. Referencing previous comments to the FCC in which AMIA asserted that “access to broadband is a social determinant of health,” AMIA applauded FCC’'s leadership, while highlighting recent JAMIA scholarship suggesting that telehealth can increase access to care.