Brendan Carr, a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, is visiting healthcare facilities and accepting applications for the agency's new connected care pilot program, according to the Memphis Daily News.
Mr. Carr unveiled plans July 11 to establish a $100 million connected care pilot program. The FCC will vote on a notice of inquiry related to the proposed pilot program, which would support the use of telehealth for low-income Americans in rural areas, at its open meeting in August.
Mr. Carr visited Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis (Tenn.) July 12 to tour the facility's remote intensive care unit program, the Memphis Daily News reports. Mr. Carr has been visiting healthcare facilities in the region to accept applications for the pilot program's first projects, which could receive as much as $5 million to improve broadband connectivity for low-income patients.
"Part of why we're trying to target this $100 million to rural and low-income communities is we want to make sure that everyone's got their fair shot," Mr. Carr said, according to the Memphis Daily News. "As we see these interesting new health applications and the connected networks, we want to make sure that all of these communities are getting that service too."