Forty rural health networks nationwide will receive $11.9 million in federal funding to help pay for the acquisition of health information technology and electronic health records, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Awards of about $300,000 each will be used to purchase health IT equipment, install broadband Internet networks and train staff, HHS said in a news release, which includes the complete list of 40 grantees. Officials hope the funds will help network physicians and other eligible health-care providers to qualify for the Medicare and Medicaid incentives paid to providers who adopt EHRs that meet federal performance guidelines.
"We need health information technology to bring our health-care system into the 21st century," says HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. "These funds will help safety-net providers acquire state-of-the-art health information technology systems to ensure the delivery of quality care to some of the most remote areas of our country."
HHS is awarding the grants under a pilot program developed by President Obama's Rural Health Initiative and Secretary Sebelius' Rural HIT Taskforce. The funding comes from existing appropriations to the Rural Health Care Services Outreach and Rural Health Network Development Program, according to HHS.
John Pulley
John Pulley has written the Health IT Update blog since May 2011. Prior to becoming a regular contributor to Nextgov, he covered technology for Federal Computer Week and Government Health IT magazines. He has written about government for Federal Times and Air Force Times, as well. Pulley has worked in journalism for more than 20 years. He began his career covering local government for regional newspapers. In addition, he served as a writer and senior editor at The Chronicle of Higher Education for seven years. In 2006, he founded The Pulley Group, an editorial services agency.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION