Rural healthcare facilities face very specific challenges, one of the most pressing being a shortage of primary care physicians. But a recent telemedicine grant program could help alleviate some of those issues.
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) recently announced a $16 million grant program intended to boost telehealth and quality improvement activities in rural healthcare settings. This program is designed to improve veteran healthcare and aid providers in performing policy-oriented research that develops a better understanding of the challenges rural communities face.
The Award
The award, which demonstrates the federal government’s continued support of telemedicine initiatives, “will be divided into four programs administered by HRSA’s Federal Office of Rural Health Policy and support 60 rural communities within 32 states and seven Rural Health Research Centers,” according to Healthcare IT News.
The largest award will go directly toward expanding telehealth in the form of $6.3 million that will fund the Telehealth Network grant program. Under that award, 21 community health organizations will be given $300,000 annually over the next three years to be used to improve the quality of health information and encourage teleconnections to school-based health centers.
Additionally, seven Rural Health Research Centers will be supported in the form of $700,000 awards to each organization annually over four years, which will be used to bolster rural-focused health services research.
Chronic conditions will be addressed through the Small Health Care Provider Quality Improvement grants of around $4 million. These awards will support 21 organizations over a three-year period and will target primary care providers with quality improvement efforts.
The Challenges of Rural Healthcare
Rural healthcare environments face specific challenges that more urban and suburban regions do not. These include:
- Low physician density
- High rates of motor vehicle accidents
- Low rates of employer-provided health coverage
- High rates of alcohol abuse among youth
- High suicide and serious injury accident rates
According to HRSA acting administrator Jim Macrae, the HRSA award is intended to directly address some of these issues. He states, “Rural and frontier communities face unique geographic barriers to obtaining comprehensive and convenient healthcare services. These grants are designed to help individuals and communities access the high-quality care they need to live healthier lives.”
Improving Veteran Healthcare
Of the 22 million veterans living in the U.S., a full 30 percent live in rural or highly rural areas. Veterans living in rural areas also comprise around 30 percent of the country’s newest veterans, having served in Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn. Rural veteran enrollment has increased by 15 percent since 2006, with the largest concentrations residing in the South and upper Midwest.
The program specifically targets veteran healthcare through three Flex Rural Veterans Health Access Program grants totaling $900,000. These grants will bring health services, including mental health, to rural veterans through health information technology and telehealth solutions. Each organization awarded one of these grants will receive $300,000 annually for a maximum of three years.
According to HRSA’s associate administrator for rural health policy, Tom Morris, the ultimate goal of the grant programs is to build collaboration in rural environments. Morris states, “These grants encourage and support collaboration at the community level, expanding and strengthening the safety net with networks of care in rural areas. Collaboration among different providers of health and social services within a community means shared resources, shared expertise and shared innovations.”
One of the fastest growing areas of telehealth is the mental health field. Learn here how a Wisconsin provider has developed a telemental health platform able to reach patients hundreds of miles away.
