Dear Commissioners:

The Advisory Committee on Telecommunications and Health Care is pleased to submit its report to the Federal Communications Commission.  The report includes the Committee s recommendations on how to implement the provisions of the Telecommunications Act extending telemedicine services to rural areas, as well as findings summarizing the current state of telemedicine.  We have also provided general recommendations designed to foster the advancement of telemedicine in the United States and abroad.  It is our hope that the report and recommendations will be of value to the FCC and the Joint Board as you implement the universal service provisions of the Telecommunications Act.

The opportunity to serve on the Advisory Committee was a valuable one for the experts who gave their time to participate. The members of the Advisory Committee represent all parts of the health and telecommunications community that are involved in telemedicine.  Health professionals, academic experts,  telecommunications providers, rural advocates, telemedicine practitioners and many others worked together to provide recommendations to the FCC to encourage the development of telemedicine in ways that would benefit rural residents and their healthcare providers.  We have also sought to consider the burden on the telecommunications carriers who will be providing the telecommunications services necessary to bring telemedicine to rural areas.

The Advisory Committee members are united in the belief that telemedicine holds significant  promise to improve the availability of needed health services to millions of Americans.  In rural areas throughout the U.S., shortages of health professionals, geographic isolation, and the lack of health technology available in more densely populated areas means reduced access to sophisticated healthcare.  The telemedicine efforts that are currently underway in many rural areas demonstrate that telemedicine can work to bridge these healthcare gaps and improve the quality of healthcare available to rural residents.  In addition to these important gains, the telemedicine specific provisions of the Telecommunications Act benefit rural health providers by reducing the cost of telecommunications services for telemedicine and guaranteeing the availability of an adequate telecommunications infrastructure, which is lacking in many rural areas today.

The sponsors of the telemedicine provisions of the Telecommunications Act have made an important contribution to improve healthcare in rural America.  By making telecommunications services affordable, and by making sure that rural areas have sophisticated telecommunications services available to them, the Act begins to give rural healthcare professionals the tools they need to provide the same quality of care as in urban areas.  

The continuing development of sophisticated telecommunications technology combined with  technological advances in medicine will mean enormous change in the delivery of healthcare in the decade ahead.  Long distance consultation with specialists, instantaneous transmission of sophisticated images and data for medical procedures and tests, the electronic availability healthcare information technology, and countless other advances will provide millions of Americans who currently lack adequate healthcare access with the opportunity to enjoy the advances of modern medicine. 

We hope the Advisory Committee has made a contribution to the expansion of telemedicine services for rural areas and for all other parts of the country and the world.  We have been pleased to serve and are pleased to submit our recommendations for the consideration of the FCC and the Joint Board.

The Advisory Committee would like to thank all those who provided assistance.  In particular the Committee is grateful for the assistance of Elliot Maxwell and Lygeia Ricciardi of the FCC Office of Plans and Policy and Thayer Nelson of Managed Care Options.

Sincerely,


Gregory E. Lawler
Chair 
Advisory Committee on Telecommunications and Health Care