The Federal Communications Commission has set a date for healthcare providers to submit applications for the second round of the COVID-19 Telehealth Program, which will distribute nearly $250 million to support telehealth services.   

The window opens at noon on April 29 and will last one week until May 6, according to the FCC. Interested providers will be able to submit applications through a dedicated portal to be made available on the agency’s COVID-19 Telehealth Program webpage.  

The second wave of funding builds on last year’s $200 million program outlined by Congress’ CARES Act, which appropriated the money “to support efforts of health care providers to address coronavirus by providing telecommunications services, information services and devices necessary to enable the provision of telehealth services” over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.   

According to the FCC, that initial volley of funds was fully issued to 539 applications between April and July last year.  

The $249.95 million allotted for the second round of the program comes via the Consolidated Appropriations Act passed in December, which instructed the FCC to review the metrics used to evaluate funding applications. As a result, the agency adopted a report on March 30 laying out the requirements and procedures for the second round’s awards.   

According to the document, the program will now be reviewing all of the submitted applications collectively rather than on a rolling basis “to provide a level playing field to all applications, regardless of size or resource level.” The report also included the 100-point rating scale that will be used to evaluate applications for the grant money, which prioritizes factors such as COVID-19 impact, the surrounding area’s income, whether the applicant was funded in the first round and whether the applicant is located in a rural county.