The primary Rural Health Care Program is one of the FCC's four core Universal Service Fund programs, is a monthly recurring cost reimbursement program for eligible rural (FCC's definition) health care providers. Many of OHN's participants have participated the RHCP in the past, still are, or will again once the RHCPP funding stops May 2014.

Through our FCC RHCPP award, and responsibility to manage all aspect of the eligiblity vetting, RFP posting/review process, contracting, and invoicing process, OHN staff are well poised to assist our members on learning how to navigate and make the best use of these funds to cover the ongoing monthly recurring costs (MRC) for their OHN broadband connection.

Additionally, in our advocacy efforts on behalf of the network and participant community, OHN staff is tracking a lot of the new FCC policy and program reform efforts to do our best to make sure that Oregon's health care provider community continues to benefit from their support.

More about the RHCP

The (primary) Rural Health Care Program (RHCP) of the Universal Service Fund (USF), which is administered by the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), is a support program authorized by Congress and designed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to provide reduced rates to rural health care providers (HCPs) for telecommunications services and Internet access charges related to the use of telemedicine and telehealth.

USAC is committed to ensuring program integrity, which is fundamental to USAC's stewardship of the USF. One of the many activities USAC conducts to ensure program integrity is the Payment Quality Assurance (PQA) program, which is designed to generate reliable, comprehensive data about rates of improper payments.

What does it mean to health care providers (HCP)?
Support is available for telecommunications services and monthly Internet access charges used for the provision of health care. Support is also available for limited long-distance charges for accessing the Internet. The level of support depends on the location and the type of services chosen and is calculated individually for each HCP. A health care provider can save on services it already has, upgrade current services, or install new services.

How does a health care provider determine its needs?
An HCP should assess its situation to determine its needs. How will telecommunications or Internet services be used? Is there a need to transmit data, images, or interactive video? With whom does the health care provider want to communicate most frequently? Contact the telecommunications carriers and Internet service providers serving the area to determine needs and to learn about available services.

For more information, see the Rural Health Care Welcome Packet. Rural Health Care Terminology are terms you will come across - in the order in which you'll likely encounter them - as you go through the application process.