For Immediate Release
Contact: Laura Withers, [email protected]
Arlington, Va., (August 4, 2020)—NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association today issued the following statement from Chief Executive Officer Shirley Bloomfield regarding President Trump’s Executive Order on improving rural telehealth access.
The order seeks to improve access to telehealth services in rural communities by extending the availability of certain telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing additional types of practitioners and platforms to provide services, and directing Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, in coordination with the FCC and other agencies, to improve communications healthcare infrastructure for rural Americans.
“NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association has long recognized the importance of telehealth for rural communities and the vital role robust broadband networks play in making telehealth a reality in rural America,” said Bloomfield. “We thank the president and his administration for continuing to promote additional types of remote care for rural Americans at a time when it is most needed.
“As NTCA members know too well, the unique distance and population density characteristics of rural communities make seeking healthcare more challenging than if you live in the city, and this pandemic has accelerated the urgency around finding safe and reliable methods of high-quality care. I’m inspired by recent surges in the use of telehealth and proud that NTCA continues to support these innovations through advocacy and original research on the economic benefits of remote care, by working with the Department of Veterans Affairs to develop Virtual Living Rooms℠ at which rural veterans can access VA telehealth services at no cost by leveraging NTCA member connectivity, and through our own efforts to bring telehealth services to more than 40,000 individuals enrolled in NTCA’s Group Health Program (GHP) medical plans.
“NTCA is very passionate about the role that our members play in telemedicine and we look forward to working with the administration, USDA and the FCC to improve access to care.”