AUTHORITY MAGAZINE – The FCC has done a great job of providing a framework to connect individuals who are experiencing barriers to access. Other stakeholders can come together to further the goals of the ACP. Tech companies have the opportunity to pursue unique, out-of-the-box solutions that benefit under-connected individuals, risk-bearing organizations and the FCC.

CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY SAN FRANCISCO –“Every day in the US, more than 5,000 people are diagnosed with cancer but not all patients have equal access to care. Through this first-of-its-kind initiative, we can reach even more people impacted by cancer with valuable resources that can improve quality of life,” said Rob Tufel, Cancer Support Community SF Bay Area CEO. “We’re proud tl embrace this groundbreaking program to deliver support to cancer patients.”

HEALTHCARE IT NEWS – With more than 750 WiFi-enabled tablets funded by the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program, the partners aim to increase affordable broadband access and provide psychosocial oncology care to the underserved. “Interestingly, many inform us that they’ve not previously heard of the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity program despite it being launched more than a year ago,” said Katherine Todd, Gilda’s Club Twin Cities’ executive director.

PR NEWSWIRE – Use of tele-mental health services experienced rapid growth during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, disparities in access to broadband and usage were also exposed. As Gilda’s Club Twin Cities looks beyond the pandemic, they see an opportunity to continue to leverage tele-mental health services in a way that breaks down barriers to care and advances health equity.

BROADBAND BREAKFAST – The broadband infrastructure supporting telehealth should pilot test many-to-many connections and resources. Jason Welch, Infiniti Mobile president said, “By expanding the ecosystem beyond broadband and telehealth providers to include healthcare organizations themselves, there’s a unique opportunity to educate the patient. ‘Here’s your device and software, and here’s how you maximize the value of their use.’”

FIERCE HEALTHCARE –The duo will function as a guide for hospitals, nursing homes, insurers and other healthcare organizations to advance ACP enrollment. “The government (is taking the) first step of providing the device and broadband,” said Equiva CEO. “Care today involves a range of digital resources. Through our platform, an individual can access a telehealth call, they can be educated on their diagnosis and care plan and they can connect with resource organizations.”

VATOR NEWS – A new program helps hospitals, nursing homes, and other organizations enroll patients in the Affordable Connectivity Program and engage digitally for targeted health initiatives. “The offering gives entities a digital platform to quickly, cost-effectively, and cohesively deploy care management services to at-risk patient groups. Infiniti takes great pride in supporting the FCC in helping ensure households can afford broadband and tablet devices,” said Equiva CEO.

MEDCITY NEWS – An increased focus on home-based care will bode well to improve outcomes and reduce costs. Caught up in this seismic shift are consumers and clinicians who seem overwhelmed by an array of on-the-go health offerings. To serve patients at home, HCOs should seek to coalesce disparate communication, education, RPM and care management offerings and present them cohesively in a single digital engagement interface, according to Equiva CEO and Co-founder Nir Altman.

SAMSUNG INSIGHTS – Dr. Shemesh and his team created a program that provided tablet devices to patients and families who needed to keep in close contact with their medical teams at Mount Sinai. “Because we were sending devices to homes, we really needed them to work right out of the box,” he said. “After thousands of patient interactions, we’ve had only six help deck calls. It’s astounding.” Mount Sinai, Equiva and Samsung are at the forefront of this innovation, working on use cases that are completely new.

SAMSUNG INSIGHTS – Patients can now pick up a bedside tablet for access to medical records and answers to questions. Two years into the bedside tablet program, Mount Sinai has improved HCAHPS scores and decreased readmissions. “If we create a full ecosystem where the staff and the patients feel engaged with one another using technology as the platform, we can get to the next level.”