{"id":147465,"date":"2021-09-03T15:34:48","date_gmt":"2021-09-04T01:34:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=147465"},"modified":"2021-09-03T15:34:48","modified_gmt":"2021-09-04T01:34:48","slug":"fcc-funds-maternal-telehealth-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2021\/09\/03\/fcc-funds-maternal-telehealth-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Feds fund upgrade for maternal telehealth medicine in Hawai\u02bbi"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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JABSOM’s Chien-Wen Tseng conducts a telehealth visit with a patient (Photo courtesy: Vina Cristobal)
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Now, more than ever, the need for telehealth and telemedicine is crucial because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> at M\u0101noa Maternal Telehealth Network for Maternal Fetal Medicine at the John A. Burns School of Medicine<\/a> (JABSOM<\/abbr>) was awarded $899,106 for internet connectivity and video conferencing services as well as electronic fetal monitoring devices and interfaces to allow for remote, essential women\u2019s and prenatal health care. <\/p>\n

This was just one of 62 applications from across the U.S.<\/abbr> to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC<\/abbr>) for funding commitments totaling $41.98 million for Round 2 of its COVID-19 Telehealth Program toward the purchase of equipment and hardware. The FCC<\/abbr> program supports the efforts of healthcare providers to continue serving their patients by providing reimbursement for telecommunications services, information services and connected devices necessary to enable telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic. <\/p>\n

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Men-Jean Lee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The award will allow physicians, the 东精影业<\/abbr> M\u0101noa Pacific Basin Telehealth Resource Center<\/a> (PBTRC<\/abbr>) and JABSOM<\/abbr> to upgrade and expand capacity to treat their patients virtually, not only in the American Territories, but closer to home across the state of Hawaiʻi<\/span>. The team of physicians is led by Men-Jean Lee<\/strong>, chief of maternal-fetal medicine in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Women\u2019s Health at JABSOM<\/abbr>, a physician with University Health Partners, and the medical director of the Fetal Diagnostic Center at Kapiʻolani<\/span> Medical Center for Women and Children. <\/p>\n

“We were not successful last year to secure funding in Round 1 of the FCC<\/abbr> COVID-19 Telehealth funding to provide maternal telehealth services in the state of Hawaiʻi<\/span> since our numbers of COVID-positive patients were too low,” Lee said.<\/p>\n

According to Lee, previous telehealth equipment funds were secured to provide maternal telehealth equipment to link JABSOM<\/abbr> with American Samoa through a USDA<\/abbr> Rural Health Development Grant for American Samoa, with the assistance from Christina Higa<\/strong> of the PBTRC<\/abbr>, a consortium of health care experts experienced in telehealth networks services in Hawaiʻi<\/span> and the U.S.<\/abbr> Pacific Basin. <\/p>\n