Ajit Pai, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), was a keynote speaker who took main stage at the 10th annual Connected Health Conference.
Lack of digital connectivity carries extremely high costs, but few areas reveal the challenges and opportunities of the digital divide better than healthcare. Chairman Pai has taken several steps to prioritize rural healthcare and telehealth in order to close that digital divide, including boosting funding for the FCC’s Rural Health Care Program to help meet the growing demand for telehealth services in the U.S. He is also collaborating with FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr to explore a new $100 million Connected Care Pilot Program to support telehealth services for low-income American families and veterans.
Under Chairman Pai’s leadership and through the Connect2HealthFCC Task Force, the FCC is working with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to study how increased connectivity in Appalachia can help address the burden of symptom management for cancer patients. More generally, the agency’s groundbreaking Mapping Broadband Health in America platform enables data-driven decision making at the intersection of broadband and health, a critical step in bridging the digital divide in health.
Designated FCC Chairman by President Donald J. Trump in January 2017, he had previously served as Commissioner at the FCC, appointed by then-President Barack Obama and unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate in May 2012. Chairman Pai has been focused on policies to bridge the digital divide, promote innovation, protect consumers and public safety, and increase transparency at the FCC. The Chairman has also visited a number of telehealth clinics and hospitals across the country to discuss the benefits of telemedicine.
Before his appointment to the FCC, Pai held positions with the Department of Justice, the U.S. Senate, the FCC’s Office of General Counsel, and also in the private sector.
