1. What are the difficult aspects of qualifying for and participating in this project?  In other words, what is the “small print” you should read?
2. Can we change the text of the LOA?
3. Can one LOA cover more then one site?
4. Can for-profit health care providers participate?
5. Are non-profit clinics that are run by local health departments and provide Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program services eligible to participate in the project and receive funding?
6. Can non-profit community dental clinics eligible to participate in the project and receive funding?
7. From a county health department that uses IT services provided by the local county government:  will the FCC RHCPP project’s broadband network replace or complement the county’s internet service our health department currently uses?
8. My organization already has an Internet connection.  What are the advantages of dropping it and using this project’s network?
9. For the Site Survey, what questions do we have to answer and who should we answer questions that we are not sure on.
10. The Site Survey asks us to distinguish between prescribing medical professionals, non-prescribing medical professionals, and support staff.  Please define these categories.
11. What is "non-health care-related" netwrok use?
12. Can a site with both for-profit and non-profit health care organizations receive Pilot funding?
13. Our site(s) already receive support from the Universal Service Fund via the USAC current Rural Health Care Program; can we still participate in the project and receive funding?

 

1. What are the difficult aspects of qualifying for and participating in this project?  In other words, what is the “small print” you should read?
   A: Any health care provider (HCP) may participate in the project. However, only certain HCPs may receive federal funds from the project; all other participants must pay 100 percent of the project costs attributable to their site(s). 
   Who is eligible to receive federal funds? First, your organization must be publicly owned or a non-profit. Second, your organization must fit into one of the eligible-for-federal-funding HCP categories. These categories are listed on the project’s website at http://fcc.mphi.org/who.html. For those eligible to receive funding, the project will pay for 85 percent of the infrastructure construction costs and 85 percent of the first-year ongoing costs. You will be liable for the remaining 15 percent of the infrastructure construction costs and the remaining 15 percent of the first-year ongoing costs. You will also be responsible for 100 percent of second- and subsequent year ongoing costs. In addition, if you use the project’s network for non-health care-related purposes, you must allocate usage between health care and non-health care and keep records of the usage. The project will only fund health care-related activity; you must account and pay for the non-health care-related activity. 

2. Can we change the text of the Letter of Agency (LOA)?
   A:  The text of the template was provided by the FCC and, other than the bold items, cannot be changed.
   

3. Can one Letter of Agency (LOA) cover more then one site?
   A:  Yes, one LOA can be used for multiple sites as long as the person who is signing can legally sign on behalf of all of the sites.  This is typically multiple sites that are owned by the same organization.  Each location's address must be listed on the bottom of the LOA.  
   However, one site survey should be completed for each separate (geographically distinct) location.  If your organization owns five sites, and you are going to run a network connection to each of those sites, then you should complete and submit five site surveys.  The site survey is available here.

4. Can for-profit health care providers participate?
   A:  Yes, for-profit HCPs can participate, but they are not “qualified” (under the projects rules) to receive federal funding.  They must pay 100% of their site(s) costs.

5. Are non-profit clinics that are run by local health departments and provide Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program services eligible to participate in the project and receive funding?
   A:  Yes, provided there is a medical professional on duty, typically this is an RN.

6. Can non-profit community dental clinics eligible to participate in the project and receive funding?
   A:  Yes.

7. From a county health department that uses IT services provided by the local county government:  will the FCC RHCPP project’s broadband network replace or complement the county’s internet service our health department currently uses?
   A:  Pilot funds can only be used for health care related services.  If a Pilot supported connection is going to be shared with non-health care activities (see question 11), the cost must be prorated based on what percentage is health care.  For example, if the connection cost $100 and is used for health care only 40% the site can receive $34 from the Pilot (85% of the $40 related to health care).

8. My organization already has a Internet connection.  What are the advantages of dropping it and using this project’s network?
   A:  Because of the scale of the FCC RHCPP project, we may be able to provide greater bandwidth at the same price you are paying now, or the same bandwidth at a lower cost.  In addition, because of our negotiating power, our network can probably offer greater reliability and problem/repair response time than your current arrangement.  Please visit our website page, “Why Participate,” for more information:  http://fcc.mphi.org/why.html. However, please note the requirement mentioned in question 7:  equipment and services purchased with project funds can only be used for health care-related purposes.  If you use the network for non-health care purposes, then you must allocate usage between health care and non-health care and pay for the latter with non-RHCPP funds.

9. For the Site Survey, what questions do we have to answer and how should we answer questions that we are not sure on.
   A: The Bold items are required.  If there is a question you are not sure how to answer, provide a good-faith estimate.  For example, for question #9 an estimate of the number of computers is acceptable.   The Site Survey is available here and one should be filled out per geographically distinct site that you own and wish to include in the network.

10. The Site Survey asks us to distinguish between prescribing medical professionals, non-prescribing medical professionals, and support staff.  Please define these categories.
    A:  A “prescribing medical professional” is anyone who can prescribe medication. 
    A “non-prescribing medical professional” is anyone (not included in the “prescribing” group) who is licensed as a health care professional by the Michigan Department of Community Health.  For a comprehensive list, see
    http://www.michigan.gov/mdch/0,1607,7-132-27417_27529---,00.html. Speech-language therapists are not licensed in the State of Michigan, but for the purposes of this survey, count speech-language therapists as “non-prescribing medical professionals.” 
    “Support staff” includes all other employees. 
    For the purposes of this survey, a good-faith estimate should be sufficient.

11. What is "non-health care-related" network use?
    A: This is only an issue if the network connection that Pilot funds are supporting is shared with a non-health care organization (example, a county health department sharing with the county road commission). Pilot funds can only be used for health care related services.  In this case, the cost must be prorated based on what percentage is health care.  For example, if the connection cost $100 and is used for health care only 40% the site can receive $34 from the Pilot (85% of the $40 related to health care).

12. Can a site with both for-profit and non-profit health care organizations receive Pilot funding?
    A: Yes but only for the percentage that is for eligible non-profit organization(s).

13. Our site(s) already receive support from the Universal Service Fund via the USAC current Rural Health Care Program; can we still participate in the project and receive funding?
    A: Yes but Pilot funds can not support connections that are already supported by USAC, in other words, no double dipping.  You can however use the Pilot to replace your current connection with a fast or better connection. 

 

 

 

 

 

Updated 8/29/08