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HHS Awards $5.3 Million to Boost HIT for Rural Areas
 

Nearly $5.3 million in grants will help to expand the rural HIT workforce and the use of telehealth to improve mental health services for veterans in rural areas, Health & Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius recently announced.

Close to $4.4 million will go to rural organizations in 15 states to recruit and train current health care staff, local unemployed workers, rural veterans, and other potential students to meet the technology needs of rural hospitals and clinics. Community colleges will work with local rural health care providers to develop rural-focused HIT training programs.  Students selected for these programs will gain EHR technology certification, apprenticeship training, and the opportunity for employment in rural hospitals and clinics.

"Health IT is growing in rural communities, and its use is even more critical now as we're expanding access to patients living in those areas," says Sebelius. "This investment is designed to attract, train, and retain HIT specialists who might otherwise seek education and job opportunities away from their own rural communities where their skills are greatly needed."  

In addition, a total of $900,000 will be awarded to Maine, Montana, and Alaska to improve the quality of mental health and other critical health care services for veterans living in rural areas. Each state will receive $300,000 to enhance crisis intervention services through telehealth technologies.  These services will enable health providers to coordinate care wirelessly and electronically across long distances to detect and treat post-traumatic stress disorders, traumatic brain injury, and other injuries for rural veterans.

The grants, funded by HHS' Health Resources and Services Administration, are part of an ongoing collaboration between HHS and the VA to implement a 21st century information infrastructure for rural health. The programs are designed to build on existing networks of care among health care entities such as critical access hospitals, home health agencies, community mental health clinics, and other providers of mental health services. 

"Our veterans deserve the best care possible," says HRSA Administrator Mary K. Wakefield, RN, PhD. "Improving health IT coordination between HHS, the VA, and local rural care providers will help ensure that veterans receive high-quality mental health care that is delivered as efficiently as possible."

These grants also align with the goals of the White House Rural Council, initiated by President Obama in 2011 to better meet the needs of rural communities through collaboration between federal agencies. 

Rural Health Information Technology Workforce Program - FY2013

Organization

City

State

Amount

Regional Health Care Network

Childersburg

AL

$299,111

Livingston Community Health Services

Livingston

CA

$300,000

Valley Citizens' Foundation For Health Care

Del Norte

CO

$300,000

Florida Department Of Education

Madison

FL

$190,914

Indiana Rural Health Association

Linton

IN

$300,000

Northeast Kentucky Regional Health Information Organization

West Liberty

KY

$300,000

Lac Qui Parle Health Network Hospital Services Cooperative

Madison

MN

$298,836

Montana State University

Bozeman

MT

$300,000

McDowell Technical Community College

Marion

NC

$300,000

Fort Drum Regional Health Planning Organization

Watertown

NY

$287,592

Pennsylvania Mountains Healthcare Alliance

Du Bois

PA

$300,000

Horizon Health Care

Howard

SD

$300,000

AHEC of the Plains

Plainview

TX

$300,000

Virginia Community College

Big Stone Gap

VA

$296,188

Southwest Wisconsin Technical College

Fennimore

WI

$268,599

 

Flex Rural Veterans Health Access Program - FY2013

Organization

City

State

Amount

State of Alaska Department of Health and Social Services

Juneau

AL

$300,00

Maine Department of Health and Human Services

Augusta

ME

$300,000

Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services

Helena

MT

$300,000

Source: Health & Human Services