The Universal Service Fund

Transcription

1 The Universal Service Fund Provides support for broadband connectivity to eligible health care providers and encourages the formation of state and regional broadband networks.

2 About Us Together, Healthcare Funding Connection and USF Healthcare Consulting is a group of Universal Service Fund experts serving over 200 hospital-clients with over 900 eligible locations. In the 2012 program year we filled 3,300 applications for support delivering funding in excess of $10 million to healthcare providers in 30 states. We manage the Universal Service Fund programs for 28 members of the HomeTown Health network.

3 The Universal Service Fund is in a period of transition. Two rural healthcare programs are closing and being replaced with the new Healthcare Connect Fund (HCF). The Rural Healthcare Programs FY2012 FY2013 FY2014 Telecommunications Telecommunications Telecommunications Internet Access Internet Access Pilot Pilot Pilot Healthcare Connect Fund Healthcare Connect Fund Telecommunications - funds difference between Rural Rate and Urban Rate. Internet Access - funds 25% of Internet. Pilot - Consortiums funds 85% of Internet and networks (being phased out). Healthcare Connect Fund - funds 65% of broadband for individual and consortium members.

4 Millions The FCC felt that the Telecommunications and Internet Access programs did not successfully expand HCP access to high-capacity broadband. They also felt the Pilot program s consortium approach encouraged broadband expansion. The Healthcare Connect Fund is modeled after the Pilot program. Rural Healthcare Disbursements Why change? $400 $350 $300 $400M Annual Budget $250 $200 $150 $100 $50 $ RHCP Pilot

5 New Healthcare Connect Fund - Eligible Locations Individual Applicants: Non-profit or public health care provider (HCP) in a rural area. Consortium Applicants: Eligible individual locations; Urban hospitals (1); Some urban clinics (1) ; Connections to off-site data and administrative centers. (1) Number of urban locations must be less than 50% of all HCPs in consortium.

6 Healthcare Connect Fund Eligible Services FCC Definition: Any advanced telecommunications or information service that enables HCPs to post their own data, interact with stored data, generate new data, or communicate, by providing connectivity over private dedicated networks or the public Internet for the provision of health information technology. Such as: Internet access T1 / DS1 VLAN Fiber Wireless Ethernet ISDN PRI MPLS DSL Microwave

7 Healthcare Connect Fund Eligible Equipment Both individual and consortium applicants may receive support for network equipment necessary to make functional an eligible service (e.g., routers and switches). Consortia may receive support for equipment needed to manage, control, or maintain an eligible service or a dedicated health care broadband network (e.g., network management computers).

8 Healthcare Connect Fund - The Process Funding Process Steps: 1. Registration and eligibility determination 2. Needs determination 3. Bidding Process (some exemptions available) a) RFP preparation b) Establishing bid selection criteria c) Bid selection (existing services/contracts considered a bid) 4. Make service changes, if any 5. Apply for funding monthly certification by hospital representative (or consultant) and the service provider 6. Funding delivered to the service provider reflected as credit on next invoice in most cases

9 Our Approach We offer an unobtrusive program to our clients. We manage all aspects of the USF programs including: Data gathering; Application filings; Supporting document creation / RFP assistance; Bidding process; Filing monthly funding requests; Ensuring receipt of funding; Deadline monitoring; Document retention; Audit support; Ongoing training on USF programs; And monitoring the accuracy of vendor billing. After the initial setup, clients spend less than one or two hours per year.

10 Differentiation Greater Funding We review each service to determine which program returns the greater funding. Larger funding may be available through the Telecommunication Program than through the Healthcare Connect Fund.

11 Loc. Service Monthly Cost Discount Hospital 10M Ethernet $ 4,035 $ 3,615 $ - $ 3,615 90% DSL % Example 1 Securing funding greater than 65%. Phone Lines 2,153 1,253 1,253 58% ISDN PRI % DSL % $ 7,335 $ 4,868 $ 745 $ 5,613 77% # Months 12 Annual Funding $ 67,359 Telecom Program funding based on difference between rate hospital pays and the rate of an urban location not a set percentage like the Healthcare Connect Fund.

12 Differentiation Greater Funding We file for every eligible service, not just the expensive ones, resulting in more funding for the client.

13 Example 2 Maximizing funding by filing for every service. Loc. Service Monthly Cost Discount Hospital 20M Ethernet $ 900 $ 585 $ % DSL % 3 X ISDN PRI 2,247 1,460 1,460 65% Phone Lines % Clinic #1 DSL % Phone Lines % Clinic #2 DSL % ISDN PRI % Phone Lines % Clinic #3 2 X DSL % Phone Lines % Clinic #4 2 X DSL % Phone Lines % Clinic #5 DSL % Phone Lines % Clinic #6 MPLS % $ 7,407 $ 1,484 $ 2,965 $ 4,449 60% # Months 12 Annual Funding $ 53,384 Telecom Program funding based on difference between rate hospital pays and the rate of an urban location not a set percentage like the Healthcare Connect Fund.

14 Differentiation Faster Funding We file for support early in the funding year resulting in better cash flow. We do not wait until the end of the funding year. We work on a contingency basis. We only get paid after client receives funding. We are incented to get the maximum funding available.

15 HomeTown Health 2012 Funding Results Filer # Eligible Hospitals 2102 Funding Per Hospital Us 28 $ 720,708 $ 25,740 Other Consultants 9 18,872 2,097 Self-filing Not filing

16 Questions

17 Thank you Mark A. Boggs, CPA (502) Geoff Boggs (502)