316. Background. The Commission required Pilot projects to submit quarterly reports in order to help inform the Commission’s understanding of the composition and uses of broadband health
networks.747 In the NPRM, the Commission proposed to collect data that would help the Commission analyze how the support in the health care support mechanism is being used, such as requiring
beneficiaries to annually identify the speed of the connections and the type and frequency of telehealth applications used as a result of broadband access.748 In addition, GAO recommended that the
Commission develop a sound evaluation plan as part of the design of any new program.749
317. Discussion. Data from participants and from the Fund Administrator are essential to the Commission’s ability to evaluate whether the program is meeting the performance goals adopted today
742July 19 Public Notice, 27 FCC Rcd at 8187-89, para. 6.
743See, e.g., Geisinger PN Comments at 3; IRHTP PN Comments at 2; CHCC/RMHN PN Comments at 2; CCHCS PN Comments at 3; UTN PN Comments at 2.
744See Universal Service Fourth Order on Reconsideration, 13 FCC Rcd at 5450, para. 228 (adopting the “cardinal change doctrine as the test for determining whether a proposed modification will require rebidding of the contract, absent direction on this question from state or local procurement rules”); USAC Site and Service Substitution Policy, at 1, 3,available athttp://www.universalservice.org/_res/documents/rhc-pilot-program/pdf/Site-and-Service- Substitution.pdf (last visited Dec. 19, 2012).
745If the requested site and service substitution causes an increase in the total amount of support under the funding commitment letter, the applicant may request an increase to the existing funding commitment letter or an additional funding commitment letter. However, a commitment of funds pursuant to an initial funding commitment letter does not ensure that additional funds will be available to support the modified services. See Universal Service Fourth Order on Reconsideration, 13 FCC Rcd at 5450-51, para. 229.
746Appendix D, 47 C.F.R. § 54.646. GCI asks that the Commission apply the site and service substitution policy to the existing RHC programs at this time. SeeGCI PN Comments at 5-6. We decline to extend this policy to the Telecommunications Program in this proceeding, which did not propose such policy changes for that program. We may consider adopting such changes for that program in the future, if they work well in the Healthcare Connect Fund.
7472007 Pilot Program Selection Order, 22 FCC Rcd at 20423-24, para. 126.
748NPRM, 25 FCC Rcd at 9428, para. 151.
749GAO Report at 53.
and to measure progress toward meeting those goals.750 We anticipate collecting the necessary data through a combination of the application process and annual reporting requirements. For consortium participants under the Healthcare Connect Fund, we require the submission of annual reports with the data specified below. Annual, rather than quarterly, reports minimize the burden on participants and the Administrator alike while still supporting performance evaluation and enabling us to protect against waste, fraud, and abuse.751 Because we expect to be able to collect data from single applicants in the Healthcare Connect Fund on forms they already submit, we do not at this time expect that they will need to submit an annual report, unless a report is required for other reasons. To further minimize the burden on participants, we direct the Bureau to work with the Administrator to develop a simple and streamlined reporting system that integrates data collected through the application process, thereby eliminating the need to resubmit any information that has already been provided to the Administrator.752 We agree with several commenters that to the extent feasible, USAC should collect information through automated interfaces.753
318. In the Healthcare Connect Fund, each consortium lead entity must file an annual report with the Administrator on or before September 30 for the preceding funding year (i.e., July 1 through and including June 30).754 Each consortium is required to file an annual report for each funding year in which it receives support from the Healthcare Connect Fund. For consortia that receive large upfront payments, the reporting requirement extends for the life of the supported facility.755 The Administrator shall make the annual reports publicly available as soon as possible after they are filed.
319. All participants are required to provide the information necessary to ensure the
Commission can assess progress towards the performance goals and measures adopted in Section III. To track progress toward the first goal, increasing access to broadband, we require participants to report the characteristics, including bandwidth and price, of the connections supported by the Healthcare Connect Fund.756 To track progress toward the second goal, fostering broadband health care networks, we require participants to report the number and characteristics of the eligible and non-eligible sites connecting to the network.757 We also expect participants to report whether and to what extent the supported connections are being used for telemedicine, exchange of EHRs, participation in a health information exchange, remote training, and other telehealth applications.758 To track progress toward the third goal, maximizing
750See supra section III; seeOHN PN Comments at 3 (“Information collection is vital to demonstrating use and value of the network and FCC/matching funding investments.”).
751See, e.g., IRHTP PN Comments at 2; UTN PN Comments at 1; HSHS PN Comments at 3-4.
752SeeMTN PN Comments at 2; see alsoUTN PN Comments at 1 (explaining that much of the information contained in the Pilot quarterly reports is already contained in prior filings with USAC).
753As one commenter put it, the “[t]he least burdensome manner of collecting this information (with the maximum reporting-out capability) is to create a uniform reporting tool with drop-downs/descriptions of use that allow USAC and the FCC to more easily report on majority trends and uses of the network and funding as a whole.” OHN PN Comments at 3; see alsoITN PN Comments at 2; WNYRAHEC PN Comments at 2-3 (suggesting the use of an online system that automatically populates information from the Network Cost Worksheet and invoices).
754SeeSWTAG PN Comments at 4 (suggesting that only the consortium lead entity be required to submit reports, similar to the Pilot Program).
755For instance, if a participant receives support to purchase a 20-year IRU, the participant is required to file annual reports for 20 years.
756See supra section III.A.
757See supra section III.B.
758Id.
the cost-effectiveness of the program, in addition to the reporting requirements under the first goal, we require that participants report the number and nature of all responsive bids received through the competitive bidding process as well as an explanation of how the winning bid was chosen, as discussed above in the section on competitive bidding requirements.759
320. We delegate authority to the Bureau to provide, and modify as necessary, further guidance on the reporting requirements described above, for both participants and the Administrator, to ensure the Commission has the necessary information to measure progress towards meeting the
performance goals adopted in this Order. For consortium applicants, the consortium leader will be responsible for preparing and submitting these annual reports. Some of the data will already be collected through other forms that participants will submit through the funding process. We do not require non- consortium applicants to file annual reports at this time because we expect to be able to collect
information through forms they already submit in connection with the application process, or if necessary, through other simplified automated interfaces. We delegate authority to the Bureau to work with USAC to accomplish these tasks, and to modify specific reporting requirements if necessary consistent with the requirements set forth in the prior paragraph.
321. We also extend the current Pilot Program reporting requirement for each Pilot project through and including the last funding year in which the project receives Pilot support, but make it an annual instead of a quarterly obligation.760 We will also make the Pilot Program reporting requirements the same as the Healthcare Connect Fund reporting requirements and delegate to the Bureau the authority to specify whether any additional information from the quarterly report should continue to be included in the annual report that might be needed to evaluate the Pilot Program or to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse in that program.761 As of the effective date of this Order, Pilot projects are no longer required to file quarterly reports and instead may file their first annual report on September 30, 2013. We further delegate authority to the Bureau to determine the expiration of any supplemental Pilot Program reporting requirements.
322. In specifying these reporting requirements, we have sought to simplify and streamline the requirements as much as possible, in order to minimize the burden on participants while still ensuring the funding is used for its intended purpose.762 This furthers all of our performance goals – expanding access to broadband and fostering health care networks while maximizing the cost-effectiveness of the program.
The data we collect will also help us to measure progress toward each of these goals.
VII. ADDITIONAL MEASURES TO PREVENT WASTE, FRAUD, AND ABUSE
323. In this section, we adopt additional safeguards against waste, fraud, and abuse. These are set forth in new rule section 54.648, in various rule provisions requiring certifications, and elsewhere in the rules and in this Order. The safeguards are patterned on the rules for the Telecommunications
759See supra section VI.C.3.
760See 2007 Pilot Program Selection Order, 22 FCC Rcd at 20423-24, paras. 126-27. The Commission required that each Pilot project submit reports on or before January 30, April 30, July 30, and October 30 for six years following the initial quarterly report due date. 2007 Pilot Program Selection Order, 22 FCC Rcd at 20424 para. 127.
In addition, for Pilot Projects that received large upfront payments, the reporting requirement extends for the life of the supported facility.
761The required content of the Pilot project reports and the submission process will remain as specified in 2007 Pilot Program Selection Order, until otherwise specified by the Bureau. See 2007 Pilot Program Selection Order, 22 FCC Rcd at 20424, para. 126.
762See suprapara. 41.; see, e.g., VAST PN Reply Comments at 1 (finding “the quarterly reporting, as required by the Pilot Program, to be extremely burdensome”).
Program, and incorporate many of the provisions that proved effective in the Pilot Program in making the program efficient and in safeguarding against waste, fraud, and abuse. The provisions we adopt here also take into account the comments we received in response to the NPRM. These safeguards are in addition to many of the requirements described above for the Healthcare Connect Fund that are also designed to protect against waste, fraud, and abuse.
324. In addition to the requirements below, we remind participants in the Healthcare Connect Fund that they will be subject to existing Commission rules governing the exclusion of certain persons from activities associated with or relating to the USF support mechanisms (the “suspension and
disbarment” rules).763 We also remind participants that all entities that are delinquent in debt owed to the Commission are be prohibited from receiving support until full payment or satisfactory arrangement to pay the delinquent debt is made, pursuant to the Commission’s “red light” rule implementing the Debt Collection Improvement of 1996.764