Small healthcare providers feel burdened by the number of FCC forms...

officials told Wireline Bureau staffers, said an ex parte filing (http://xrl.us/bmzpqb). Many recipients hire contractors to complete the required paperwork, the groups said, suggesting the commission consider a three-year period of eligibility so entities won’t have to refile Form 466 every year. They said that the RHC primary program has led to the creation of the greater Minnesota telehealth broadband initiative pilot, but implementation is being delayed because of “lack of administrative funding for the project, the difficulty in finding a 15 percent match, confusion at the outset of the program as to whether it was [a] grant program, and the unusual nature of the RHC competitive bidding process.” The driving factor for broadband adoption by rural health clinics is image size and the ability to do teleradiology, the groups said in a filing in docket 02-60 made Wednesday by a bureau staffer who participated in the March 7 meeting. It said the groups want the agency to “consider incentives for local telecommunications companies to build out last mile connections,” which could help with a lack of connectivity throughout Minnesota.