A Medical Device Daily

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will provide up to $400 million to help statewide or multi-state telemedicine programs create or expand their networks, and use broadband public Internet or the advanced Internet2 or National LambdaRail backbones for connectivity.

Today's MDD food for med-tech thought

"Newer treatments for this condition, such as endometrial ablation, can be performed in an office and also produce successful results in a high percentage of women without undergoing a major surgery and loss of an organ."

— Keith Isaacson, MD, medical director of minimally invasive gynecological surgery at Newton Wellesley Hospital (Newton, Massachusetts), discussing new procedures for menorrhagia, at the AAGL Global Congress of Minimally Invasive Gynecology, pp. 1, 5.

The expanded networks can be used as platforms to support other IT initiatives, such as electronic health records and regional health information organizations. The program is a significant expansion of the federal government's Universal Service Fund that subsidizes telecommunications services to rural health care providers. It will enable creation of broadband telehealth networks in 42 states and three U.S. territories to serve rural and underserved communities, FCC chair Kevin Martin said recently before the American Health Information Community, a federal advisory group.

An FCC order in September 2006 laid out the program and guidelines for applicants. More than 80 network initiatives applied, and a large majority of them will receive funding, said an FCC spokesperson. Under a three-year pilot program, these initiatives will receive funds for up to 85% of the cost of deploying a dedicated broadband network and up to 85% of the broadband connectivity costs.

Participants will be "strongly encouraged" to coordinate use of their networks with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct biosurveillance activities.

Success of the pilot program will be measured before a decision is made on whether to expand the subsidies to additional applicants.

In other grants news:

  • South Dakota philanthropist Denny Sanford will donate $20 million for the creation of the Sanford Children's Health Research Center. The gift will serve as the foundation for collaboration between Sanford Health (Sioux Falls, South Dakota) and the Burnham Institute for Medical Research (La Jolla, California).
  • The alliance is focused on conquering childhood diseases. To achieve this goal, the donation will create the Sanford Children's Health Research Center at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research to be located in La Jolla. Likewise, Sanford Health will develop a Sanford Children's Health Research Center facility in Sioux Falls.
  • "I have the utmost confidence that this collaboration will promote solutions to some of the most troubling health issues that affect children," said Sanford.
  • "Partnering with my generous friend Denny Sanford and the Sanford Health organization brings significant added strength and stature to the Burnham Institute here in San Diego, to our rapidly growing Lake Nona-Orlando research facility, and to our new Burnham-Santa Barbara research program," said Malin Burnham, chairman of Burnham's board.