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 NEWS  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974).  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  TTY:  1-  888-  835-  5322 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE:  NEWS  MEDIA  CONTACT:  November  7,  2003  Mike  Balmoris  at  (202)  418-  0253 
 Meribeth  McCarrick  at  (202)  418-  0654 


 FCC  CHAIRMAN  MICHAEL  POWELL  PROMOTES  RURAL  TELEMEDICINE  TECHNOLOGY  AT  UNIVERSITY  OF  VIRGINIA  DEMONSTRATION 
 Charlottesville,  VA  –  Federal  Communications  Commission  (FCC)  Chairman  Michael  Powell  today  visited  the  University  of  Virginia’s  Office  of  Telemedicine  to 
 showcase  the  latest  telemedicine  technology  and  to  see  first-  hand  how  rural  residents  can  have  remote  access  to  urban  hospital  facilities  and  services. 


 Chairman  Powell’s  visit  also  highlights  the  FCC’s  program  that  promotes  access  to  modern  telecommunications  and  information  services  for  medical  and  health  maintenance 
 purposes.  The  six-  year-  old  FCC  program  provides  discounted  telecommunications  services  to  rural  health  care  providers  at  rates  equal  to  the  rates  charged  for  similar  services 
 in  urban  areas. 
 Powell  said,  “It  is  vitally  important  to  strengthen  our  nation’s  telemedicine  and  telehealth  networks.  I  am  pushing  for  greater  participation  in  the  FCC’s  universal  service 
 support  program  so  that  the  quality  of  health  care  services  available  to  Americans  is  not  dependent  upon  their  geographic  location.  With  telemedicine  technologies,  geographical 
 isolation  will  no  longer  be  an  insurmountable  obstacle  to  the  basic  needs  of  timely  and  quality  medical  care.” 


 The  FCC  is  scheduled  to  broaden  the  benefits  of  the  rural  health  care  program  later  this  month.  At  its  November  Agenda  Meeting  November  13,  2003,  the  FCC  will  consider 
 proposals  to  update  the  program’s  rules  to  better  reflect  the  changing  marketplace  and  telemedicine  technologies  and  to  take  into  account  the  unique  circumstances  of  rural 
 communities.  Although  the  program,  a  part  of  the  FCC’s  Universal  Service  Fund  (USF),  is  capped  at  $400  million  annually,  demand  for  Funding  Year  2001  averaged  $14  million,  or 
 only  3.5%  of  the  possible  discounts. 
 “The  rural  health  care  program  promotes  the  development  of  a  broader  and  more  fully  integrated  network  of  health  care  providers.  In  the  aftermath  of  recent  national 
 events,  the  importance  of  such  a  network  to  national  security  and  public  safety  is  significant,”  Mr.  Powell  also  noted. 


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 At  the  UVA  telemedicine  center,  Chairman  Powell  participated  in  various  telemedicine  demonstrations.  In  one  case,  he  observed  a  telemedicine  conference  between 
 UVA  and  a  mother  located  in  rural  Saltville,  Virginia,  whose  daughter  suffered  from  a  facial  tumor,  but  because  of  telemedicine  technologies  had  access  to  a  world  renowned 
 pediatric  plastic  surgeon.  In  another  case,  a  registered  nurse  in  rural  Bath  County  Community  Hospital  was  connected  to  UVA  and  she  discussed  a  transmission  of  a  cardiac 
 ultrasound  and  a  radiographic  image. 
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