FCC COVID-19 Telehealth Program (Round 2):
A Detailed Guide To Getting Funding
19Labs's FCC Funding webinar with federal grant experts Dana Satterwhite and Barbara Catenaci.
Latest Updates:
On April 15, the FCC announced that the Round 2 application window will be open from April 29, 12:00PM ET - May 6, 12:00PM ET. This page will be updated with information as it becomes available.
In March 2021, the FCC announced that it is preparing to launch a second round of the COVID-19 Telehealth Program, with a total of $250M to be awarded this time around.
The program remains one of the fastest and most efficient ways for organizations to acquire up to $1M telehealth initiatives, but careful planning and preparation is needed in order to edge out the competition.
We at 19Labs understand the importance that telehealth plays in the time of COVID-19, and our team has worked hard to put together a guide to help your organization get FCC funding.
Program Eligibility
Eligible organizations will be able to apply up to $1M in funding, so the first and most important step is to determine your eligibility to apply for the FCC’s COVID-19 Telehealth Program. Round 2 funding will only be provided to non-profit and public eligible health care providers such as:
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Post-secondary educational institutions offering health care instruction, teaching hospitals, and medical schools
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Community health centers or health centers providing care to migrants
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Local health departments or agencies
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Community mental health centers
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Not-for-profit hospitals
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Rural health clinics
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Skilled nursing facilities
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Consortia of health care providers consisting of one or more entities falling into the first seven categories
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Eligible organizations can maximize their FCC funding by choosing our GALE platform.
GALE: One Platform For All Use Cases
Whether you're a rural clinic, school administrator, or a provider of remote healthcare, our flexibile GALE platform can adapt to your existing workflows and is deployable within days.
Sample GALE Use Cases
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Expand healthcare access in rural areas
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Deploy easily in public areas such as community centers, churches, or shops
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Integrate with existing organizational workflows, or use standalone with Healthcare AI
Rural Clinics
Schools
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Manage health conditions and extend first-aid to students
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Educate students and their families on healthy living best practices
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Reduce absenteeism by improving healthcare
Remote Patient Monitoring
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Extend healthcare access to patients with limited mobility
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Protect clinicians while still caring for infectious patients
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Adapt technologies that allow continued care despite COVID-19
Eligible & Ineligible Budget Items
Round 2 applicants may receive funding to support up to 12 months of eligible recurring services along with the first year of annual license agreements. It is important to note which items are eligible and ineligible for FCC funding when filing your application.
Eligible budget items include:
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Wi-Fi or Bluetooth enabled devices that connect to the internet directly, including devices (e.g. webcams, stethoscopes) that link to another device for purposes of providing telehealth services
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Network equipment needed to use telecommunications services, information services, or connected devices
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Taxes, shipping, and installation of eligible devices and services
There are a number of ineligible budget items, but the most important items to consider are:
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Devices that patients use at home that don’t connect to the internet, even if those devices allow the patient to manually report information to medical professionals remotely
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Technical support, maintenance costs, and costs for warranties/protection plans
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Back-up Power Equipment (e.g. back-up batteries, redundant power cords, UPS, generators, surge protectors, etc.)
Next Steps
The following items have to be completed prior to filing an application for the program:
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Request an eligibility determination from USAC by filing an FCC Form 460
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Create an FRN (FCC Registration Number) and an FCC Commission Registration ID
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Register with SAM (System for Award Management), as this is required to receive payment through the program.
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The application form is available on the FCC website. For more resources on the program, please see USAC's website.
Case Study: UETN
Average number of nurses per school in rural Utah.
Utah Education and Telehealth Network (UETN) previously faced staffing shortages in rural areas of the state. For instance, there are only two nurses to cover 10 school districts in Emery County; with each school being up to a 90-minute drive from each other. The organization successfully filed an application for the FCC’s COVID-19 Telehealth Program and managed to acquire $1M in funding for its telehealth expansion.
Initially, UETN only planned to have 100 telehealth devices spread across its schools. However, through reviewing vendor options, they were able to expand this initial number to 175 by partnering with 19Labs. Our flexible, open approach platform helped UETN get access to the best telehealth devices in the market at a very affordable cost – thereby resulting in a 75% increase to the original number of schools they planned to equip with telehealth devices.
19Labs’s GALE platform is equipped with the “best of breed” telehealth devices in the market. It also has the flexibility to integrate with existing workflows and can be adopted for different use cases; including but not limited to: rural & mobile clinics, school enhanced telehealth, and remote patient monitoring (RPM).
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