Dive Brief:
- Since 2010, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology and the Health Resources and Services Administration have been working to help rural providers and hospitals leverage health IT, including helping them meaningfully use their EMRs.
- The goals of the joint program include expanding funding for rural health IT, promoting rural health IT workforce development, expanding access to broadband connectivity for rural providers and hospitals and developing tools and resources to address the needs of rural healthcare providers and hospitals.
- Starting in 2011, ONC and HRSA began working to obtain loans and grants for rural providers to acquire health IT infrastructure; since then, the USDA has awarded $32 million in grants and loans, and a pilot initiative in Kansas, Iowa, Mississippi, Texas and Illinois generated more than $38 million.
Dive Insight:
It's great to hear that the ONC and its partners are helping rural health practices and hospitals catch up with their more-urban counterparts. Given that these providers may be many miles apart, it's particularly important that they're able to share data electronically, as such link-ups can help assess patient needs more effectively. It's also great to know that the agencies are working on rural health IT training and workforce development. Without this kind of support, it's unlikely that smaller, isolated medical practices and hospitals will be able to leverage the full potential of health IT to support care.