Challenges of the rural healthcare pilot program broadband initiative

The Federal Communication Commission initiated the Rural Healthcare Pilot Program Broadband Initiative in 2007 to provide funds for deployment of broadband networks to rural areas. The purpose of this paper is to highlight some of the preliminary findings of the first phase of a larger study designed to assess the implementation and effectiveness of the Rural Healthcare Pilot Program. Interviews with 40 organizations (response rate=64.5%) that were awarded funds from the Federal Communication Commission for this project were conducted. Two questions from the interviews were coded, and overall themes are presented here. The questions are, "Did unexpected issues/challenges emerge during the planning stage?" and "What were they?" Ninety percent of the respondents stated that they had encountered challenges. The types of challenges reflect two overarching themes: program deployment issues and communication issues. The ultimate goal of this research project is to improve awareness of the challenges that telemedicine grantees often face when they receive funds from external agencies and also to use this information to facilitate this process.