TELEHEALTH DECISION SAVES MONEY AND LIVES IN NEBRASKA

 Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson welcomed a decision this week by the Federal Communications Commission that maintains funding for telehealth services at rural hospitals, which will save Nebraskans money and continue their access to high quality health care.
Funding was scheduled to be cut off on June 30th. This week, the FCC decided to continue funding temporarily, while moving ahead with a rulemaking process which proposes to make the funding permanent. That will affect 235 hospitals nationwide, including those in Kearney, Grand Island, Fremont and Norfolk.
“The FCC’s move to continue support for telehealth services at our Nebraska hospitals is good news. Nebraskans shouldn’t have to drive long distances for specialized health care they can receive through telehealth,” said Senator Nelson. “Making support permanent is a common sense way for hospitals to continue offering critical telemedicine and telehealth services to rural patients, their families and their doctors. It saves money, time and lives.”
Last fall, Nelson sent a letter last to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski urging him to maintain funding scheduled to lapse on June 30th for hospitals in Kearney, Grand Island, Fremont and Norfolk.
This week, the FCC adopted an interim rule that allows the 235 rural hospitals nationwide to continue receiving telehealth funding during the process of a Notice for Proposed Rulemaking, in which the agency is proposing to make the funding permanent.
The four Nebraska hospitals affected are:
•Good Samaritan Health Systems in Kearney, Nebraska
•Fremont Area Medical Center in Fremont, Nebraska, which in addition is linked to the University of Nebraska Medical Center
•St. Francis Medical Center in Grand Island, Nebraska
•Faith Regional Health Services in Norfolk, Nebraska
“Nebraska health professionals have told me compelling stories of how rural telehealth services allow them to monitor patients remotely and provide specialized services across the state,” said Nelson. “Furthermore, since many rural Nebraska hospitals share statewide telehealth network infrastructure, when one hospital loses funding, they all pay the price.”
Among those Nelson heard from is Bill Brennan, Grants Development Coordinator, Saint Francis Medical Center Foundation.
“This investment in rural healthcare is invaluable,” Brennan wrote. “The Telehealth Network provides the most efficient manner to maintain a comprehensive videoconference network throughout Nebraska. The Telehealth Network is a vital link into rural Nebraska, providing healthcare that not only reduces travel brings specialized medicine to the point of care. In some cases, timely interventions can mean the difference between life and death.”
Renae Kauth, Diabetes Educator/Dietitian at Faith Regional Health Services wrote that the telehealth support is critical to the success of the Nebraska State Telehealth Network (NSTN.)
“Norfolk does not have an endocrinologist, which is very important in the care of diabetic patients,” Kauth wrote. “Faith Regional has a telehealth endocrinology clinic with a doctor from Omaha to help meet the needs of our patients. Without NSTN this would not be possible and our patient would have to make the 3-4 hour trip depending on where they lived. NSTN is very important and beneficial to improving the health of the residents in rural Nebraska. Norfolk is still considered a rural community by many and NSTN is needed to continue providing the residents in Norfolk and surrounding counties quality healthcare.”
Lesley Bollwitt-Maria, manager of grants and special projects at Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation, also wrote to Nelson: “If we lose our funding, in essence, we become stranded and so do the end point sites that connect into Good Samaritan. Our access to health care services from across the state is cut off.”
In 2004, the FCC changed the definition of “rural” hospitals that could qualify for Rural Health Care Support funding by reducing the population count a hospital serves from 50,000 to 25,000. Because of this change, the four facilities in Nebraska no longer passed the “rural” definition test and would become ineligible at the end of the month for the funding to deploy broadband for telehealth.
The FCC had granted a temporary extension to these four facilities so that they may continue to receive funding until June 30th. The Nebraska Public Service Commission also had petitioned the FCC to grandfather in these facilities, so that they would receive permanent federal funding.
According to the Public Service Commission, the NSTN allowed for 1,600 clinical consultations of Nebraska healthcare patients. That, in turn, allowed for the patients to forgo the costs and inconvenience of traveling long distances to seek medical consultation from specialist in more urban areas. In addition, the NSTN saved Nebraska hospitals an estimated $1.8 million in travel time and mileage.