Telehealth and telecommunication providers collaborate to advance goals of billion-dollar federal program, helping ensure under-connected households can afford broadband, devices
Equiva Health, a digital patient engagement and health relationship management solution provider, today announced a new partnership with wireless internet service provider (ISP) Infiniti Mobile, as well as the launch of its new ACP Connect Program. Through this innovative offering, Equiva and Infiniti will collaborate to serve as a catalyst in helping hospitals, nursing homes, insurers and other healthcare organizations advance enrollment in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) and in helping these entities engage digitally with individuals for targeted population health initiatives.
The ACP is a $14.2 billion federal program administered by the Federal Communications Commission that gives eligible households a monthly discount toward broadband service and a discount toward a connected device.
“We’ve created our offering to go beyond the basics of enrollment by giving healthcare entities a digital platform to quickly, cost-effectively and cohesively deploy care management services to at-risk populations,” said Equiva CEO and Co-Founder Nir Altman. “Our goal is to bridge gaps in the digital divide and to improve outcomes by helping individuals manage their health more effectively.”
Via Equiva ACP Connect, healthcare organizations benefit from an easy-to-use, highly affordable, turnkey service to quickly configure tablets and aggregate the display of population-targeted educational resources and care management tools. Additionally, Equiva provides full service to distribute these tablets to enrollees via healthcare facilities or direct to individual homes.
The ACP is open to households in which at least one member is already enrolled in Medicaid, SNAP, SSI, WIC, Tribal-specific programs, and other government assistance programs. While a White House press release indicates that 48 million households – nearly 40% of U.S. households – are eligible for the Affordable Connectivity Program, according to the FCC only 15.4 million households had subscribed as of January 2023, and less than 15% of eligible Medicaid patients had enrolled.
“Responsible telecommunications providers are longstanding, steadfast supporters of government initiatives to ensure connectivity for low-income Americans. Bringing telecommunications together with telehealth in a highly unique way creates a powerful and immense opportunity to address pressing healthcare challenges across underserved communities,” said Jason Welch, Infiniti Mobile President.
Welch said this program is “a shining example of what can be achieved when private enterprises think outside the box and join synergistically to support a federal initiative.”
“To truly tip the scales of health equity, digital health solutions must be readily accessible, extremely easy to use, and affordable — for patients, loved ones, clinicians, and healthcare organizations,” Altman said. “We’re pleased to advance a key pillar of the ACP program — specifically to improve healthcare access for at-risk populations.”
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