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FCC Pilot Program Benefits & Challenges

FCC Pilot Program Benefits & Challenges. Presented by Louis Wenzlow RWHC ITN Chief Information Officer Springfield Meeting 10/29/08. ITN Project Goals.

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FCC Pilot Program Benefits & Challenges

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  1. FCC Pilot ProgramBenefits & Challenges Presented by Louis Wenzlow RWHC ITN Chief Information Officer Springfield Meeting 10/29/08

  2. ITN Project Goals …to implement a collaborative electronic health record (EHR) environment (initially consisting of a hospital information system and a physician practice EMR system) that will be shared by multiple hospitals from common datacenters and supported by a pooled staff.

  3. ITN Project Goals • Redundant Server Model • 2 servers, 2 locations, continuous replication: high availability; disaster recovery in minutes rather than many hours or days • Redundant telecommunications • ***Project goals already in place when FCC Pilot Program opportunity is announced

  4. ITN Positioned to Move Quickly • Existing network and expertise from which to develop Pilot Program network • Firm timeline with established milestones that required telecommunications • Cohesive group of participants already in the process of being organized in a 501(e) consortium • Leadership authorized by participants

  5. Step 1: 465 Submission • Network Design • RFP Development • Letters of Agency • Summary of Changes Document • 465 Forms and Certifications • 28 Day Bidding Period

  6. Technical Configuration • Redundant Telecommunications Model

  7. RFP Development

  8. ITN 465 Results • Early Hiccup: is a consortium datacenter eligible if it doesn’t provide healthcare? • Resolution: consortium datacenter services are eligible for funding if they are provided exclusively to eligible entities and are necessary for the provision of healthcare • Multiple Vendor Strategy • Primary and secondary telecom; network termination equipment; network management hardware and software • Benefit: get best prices for a given community and manage your own network • Challenge: higher complexity and more paper work

  9. Step 2: 466 Submission • Competitive Bid Review and Follow-up • Formal Vendor Evaluation Methodology • Updated Network Diagram • Contract Negotiations, USAC Review (if eligibility is questionable), and Signing • 466 Forms and Certifications

  10. ITN 466 Results • First three contracts signed • First ITN Pilot Program connections went live on June and July. • Second hiccup: “Sustainability” • How will the network continue to operate if/when funding goes away? • For ITN, FCC sustainability dependent on Shared HIS use cases (network is needed; benefits of Shared HIS outweigh telecom costs)

  11. October Activities • Funding Commitment Letters (FCLs) for Year 1 costs issued on October 1 • 467s issued on October 6th • First invoices processed on October 14th

  12. Overall Challenges • Developing cohesive organization and sustainable use cases • Going early means facing issues that have never been faced before • Loads of paperwork • Maintaining flexibility within bureaucratic process (how to add facilities moving forward?) • High level of due diligence required

  13. Overall Benefits • High level of due diligence required • Competitive bidding leads to best prices • Good evaluation methodology makes for good choices • 85% rather than urban comparable rates (USF program) usually makes for lower costs • Important for this program to continue into future • Incentivizes building networks rather than point to point relationships that perpetuate dependencies • 15% of best rate (rather than urban comparable) incentivizes choosing lowest possible rate and is a better structure for sustainability

  14. Questions • For more information please contact Louis Wenzlow • lwenzlow@rwhc.com • (608) 644-3237

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