§ 54.615   Obtaining services.

   (a) Selecting a provider. In selecting a telecommunications carrier, a
   health care provider shall consider all bids submitted and select the
   most cost-effective alternative.

   (b) Receiving supported rate. Upon receiving a bona fide request, as
   defined in paragraph (c) of this section, from a rural health care
   provider for a telecommunications service that is eligible for support
   under the Telecommunications Program, a telecommunications carrier
   shall provide the service at a rate no higher than the urban rate, as
   defined in § 54.605, subject to the limitations applicable to the
   Telecommunications Program.

   (c) Bona fide request. In order to receive services eligible for
   support under the Telecommunications Program, an eligible health care
   provider must submit a request for services to the telecommunications
   carrier, signed by an authorized officer of the health care provider,
   and shall include that person's certification under oath that:

   (1) The requester is a public or non-profit entity that falls within
   one of the seven categories set forth in the definition of health care
   provider, listed in § 54.601(a);

   (2) The requester is physically located in a rural area, or if the
   requester is a mobile rural health care provider requesting services
   under § 54.609(e), that the requester has certified that it is serving
   eligible rural areas;

   (3) [Reserved]

   (4) The requested service or services will be used solely for purposes
   reasonably related to the provision of health care services or
   instruction that the health care provider is legally authorized to
   provide under the law in the state in which such health care services
   or instruction are provided;

   (5) The requested service or services will not be sold, resold or
   transferred in consideration of money or any other thing of value;

   (6) If the service or services are being purchased as part of an
   aggregated purchase with other entities or individuals, the full
   details of any such arrangement, including the identities of all
   co-purchasers and the portion of the service or services being
   purchased by the health care provider; and

   (7) The requester is selecting the most cost-effective method of
   providing the requested service or services, where the most
   cost-effective method of providing a service is defined as the method
   that costs the least after consideration of the features, quality of
   transmission, reliability, and other factors that the health care
   provider deems relevant to choosing a method of providing the required
   health care services.

   (d) Annual renewal. The certification set forth in paragraph (c) of
   this section shall be renewed annually.

   [ 62 FR 32948 , June 17, 1997, as amended at  70 FR 6373 , Feb. 7, 2005;  78 FR 13984 , Mar. 1, 2013]

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