AHA/ASHE Issue Regulatory Advisory: FCC Updates WMTS Rule
A Message to AHA and ASHE Members:
Since the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued the June 8, 2000 Report and Order (see AHA Regulatory Advisory, Aug. 1, 2000), designating a portion of the radio spectrum for the Wireless Medical Telemetry Service (WMTS), it has issued additional rules, updating and modifying the regulations governing this key part of patient care. These include designating a frequency coordinator and slightly modifying the radio spectrum designation for WMTS.
The original spectrum designation came as a direct result of the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE) and AHA's advocacy efforts to the FCC about our concerns over how electromagnetic interference with medical devices such as wireless heart, blood pressure and respiratory monitors can affect patient safety. Since the WMTS took effect on Oct. 16, 2000, however, concerns have surfaced about adjacent higher-powered users and the potential for interference with medical devices, prompting the FCC in its Dec. 21, 2001 Report and Order to relocate a portion of the WMTS on the radio spectrum.
Hospitals and health facilities also need to be advised that on Oct. 16, 2003, the FCC plans to once again issue licenses to the primary users of the private land mobile radio service (PLMRS). Currently, medical telemetry devices are secondary users on this PLMRS spectrum. At the request of the AHA and ASHE, the FCC placed a freeze on issuing additional licenses in the PLMRS until wireless medical telemetry equipment could be assigned spectrum on a primary basis, free from harmful interference. The PLMRS spectrum currently used by wireless medical telemetry equipment on an unlicensed or secondary basis has increasingly been used by existing primary services, thereby posing an increased risk of interference. Because of the recent changes made to the WMTS spectrum allocation, however, the AHA is seeking a one-year delay in lifting the upper PLMRS band freeze (460-470 MHz).
After reviewing this advisory, check off the following items from your to do list:
- Share this advisory with your clinical and biomedical engineering professionals, critical care physicians, nursing staff and risk managers.
- Ensure that hospital staff are working with your wireless medical telemetry vendor to assess the immediate and long-term risks of disruption.
- Develop a timeline for moving to the WMTS so that patient safety can be maximized.
| Rick Pollack Executive Vice President |
Wayne D. Klingelsmith, FASHE, CHFM President, ASHE |
February 19, 2002
FCC Updates WMTS Rule
Since the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued the June 8, 2000 Report and Order (see AHA Regulatory Advisory, Aug. 1, 2000), designating a portion of the radio spectrum for Wireless Medical Telemetry Service (WMTS), it has issued additional rules, updating and modifying the regulations governing this key part of patient care. These include designating a frequency coordinator and slightly modifying the radio spectrum designation for WMTS.
Background
In the past, most wireless medical telemetry devices operated as secondary users in select commercial broadcast TV bands at 174-216 MHz (channels 7 to 13) and 470-668 MHz (channels 14 to 46), and in private land mobile radio service (PLMRS) at the 450-470 MHz band. As secondary users, medical telemetry devices had to accept interference from, and not interfere with, primary licensed users. In addition, some medical telemetry equipment operated on a shared basis in the industrial, scientific, medical (ISM) and other bands. The spectrum used by wireless medical telemetry equipment on an unlicensed or secondary basis has increasingly been used by existing primary services, thereby posing an increased risk of interference to medical telemetry devices.
Allocation of Spectrum
To protect patients using medical telemetry equipment from electromagnetic interference, the FCC dedicated a portion of the radio spectrum for wireless medical telemetry devices such as wireless heart, blood pressure and respiratory monitors. The FCC's June 8, 2000 Report and Order allocating spectrum for the WMTS was slightly modified in its Dec. 21, 2001 Report and Order.
The first two portions of the spectrum designation remain the same:
- Medical telemetry equipment shares, on a co-primary basis with radio astronomy, the 608-614 MHz (TV channel 37) band. WMTS equipment in this band may not interfere with existing radio astronomy facilities whose locations are listed in Section 95.1119 of the FCC's rules, 47 C.F.R. 95.1119.
- Medical telemetry devices have primary status on the 1395-1400 MHz band, pending the gradual phase out of certain government radar sites. A list of government radar sites and their locations is included in the appendices of the FCC Report and Order, which was published in the July 17, 2000 Federal Register, page 43995.
However, concerns prompted the relocation of the WMTS spectrum in the third band assigned to these devices:
- Because of concerns with adjacent higher-powered users at the 1429-1432 MHz band and the resultant need for a guard band to protect the WMTS in this band, the FCC has shifted the WMTS from the 1429-1432 MHz band to the 1427-1429.5 MHz band, where the WMTS will be adjacent to radio astronomy. The change will take effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register of the FCC's Dec. 21, 2001 Report and Order. The WMTS has primary status on the 1427-1429.5 MHz band.
Frequency Coordinators
The FCC has designated AHA's American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE) as frequency coordinator. ASHE's task as frequency coordinator will be to maintain a database of WMTS transmitters and notify users of potential frequency conflicts. For more information about ASHE's role as frequency coordinator, contact Dale Woodin, ASHE's deputy executive director of advocacy, at (312) 422-3812.
Transition Periods
The June 8, 2000 Report and Order states that the FCC will not approve new medical telemetry equipment that operates in the digital television (DTV) or PLMRS bands, effective Oct. 16, 2002. The FCC's goal is to encourage the medical telemetry community to move out of harm's way and into the dedicated spectrum allocations.
At the AHA's request, the FCC will permit medical telemetry equipment that has received an equipment authorization to operate in the DTV or PLMRS bands prior to the two-year transition date to continue operating indefinitely. This action is intended to minimize any unnecessary financial burdens on hospitals by permitting them to operate their existing systems as long as feasible until replacement is necessary due to age or interference concerns. However, it is important to recognize that TV broadcasters and PLMRS users will continue testing and transmitting in their allocated spectrum.
The FCC has also stated that on Oct. 16, 2003, three years after the rule's effective date, it will lift the freeze on issuing licenses in the upper PLMRS band (460-470 MHz). Because of the recent changes made to the allocation of spectrum for the WMTS, however, AHA is seeking a delay of at least one additional year in lifting the upper PLMRS band freeze. There is little doubt that the AHA's request will be opposed by the PLMRS users. Although the AHA is cautiously optimistic, there is no assurance that the FCC will grant an extension of the transition period. In the meantime, FCC has lifted the ban on the lower PLMRS band (450-460 MHz) effective Jan. 29, 2001, since data showed that the medical telemetry community was using the lower PLMRS band very little.
Key Dates for the WMTS
| June 8, 2000 | FCC issues Report and Order, establishing radio spectrum for WMTS (published in the Federal Register on July 17, 2000, ET Docket 99-255). | |
| Oct. 16, 2000 | Effective date of WMTS. | |
| Dec. 21, 2001 | FCC issues Report and Order, modifying the June 8, 2000 Report and Order, and shifting the third WMTS band to the 1427-1429.5 MHz band (not yet published in the Federal Register, but available on the AHA Web site at www.aha.org | |
| Oct. 16, 2002 | No new types of medical telemetry equipment will be approved to operate in the DTV or PLMRS band. | |
| Oct. 16, 2003 | The current effective expiration date of the FCC freeze on issuing licenses in the upper PLMRS band (460-470 MHz), unless a one-year extension is granted. The FCC has the discretion whether or not to grant the extension. |
For more information, please check the AHA web site at www.aha.org. Please do not hesitate to contact the AHA's Mary Beth Savary Taylor at (202) 626-2270, if you have questions about this issue.