News

* November 2008 Update *

Participation

One-hundred and thirty-one (131) health care providers (HCPs) have signed up to participate in Michigan’s version of the FCC’s Rural Health Care Pilot Program.  These 131 HCPs have asked that telecommunication services be provided to a total of 555 sites representing 74 of Michigan’s 83 counties.

The 99 non-profit HCPs represent 519 sites.  Three types are represented:  hospitals and their associated networks of clinics, public health departments and their satellite offices, and local and regional groups of clinics.

Thirty-two (32) of the 131 HCPs are for-profit organizations.  As HCPs, they are eligible to participate in the network.  But as for-profits, they are ineligible for Pilot Program funding.  In other words, they will have to pay the full cost of participating in the network.  These 32 HCPs represent only 36 sites, so almost all of them are rural, single-location professional offices.

Request for Proposal

The Michigan Public Health Institute (MPHI) has been working since June to develop a request for proposal (RFP).  The 66-page document will be used to solicit and select a telecommunications vendor to build the network.  The RFP describes the goals of the project, provides detailed technical specifications, outlines how the project will be administered, lists everything each bidder must provide to the Evaluation Committee, and explains how the vendor will be selected.  It is a legal document, and, as such, has been reviewed by one of the premier telecommunications law firms in Michigan.  The telecommunications community has expressed great interest in the Rural Health Care Pilot Program, and MPHI expects many vendors to submit bids.  Because of the vast geography covered by the project, some vendors may seek to partner with other telecomm firms that serve specific areas of the State.

MPHI is in the process of submitting the RFP to the FCC’s administrative arm, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC).  The RFP is currently under informal review, and will be submitted for a formal review and eventual posting on USAC’s website in the next few days.  Once posted, vendors will have 75 days to develop and submit their proposals to MPHI.  A few additional months will be required to select a winning vendor and negotiate a contract.  As part of this process, each health care site will be expected to make a final decision about the level of service (bandwidth) it wants from the network.  HCPs will be contacted about this during the first quarter of 2009.