Rural Health
News by Topic: Technology for health and human services
RUS: Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Community Connect Grant Program for Fiscal Year 2026
Federal Register
May 13, 2026 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Utilities Service (RUS) announces the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Community Connect Grant Program for fiscal year 2026. The Community Connect Grant Program provides financial assistance to eligible applicants who will provide service at or above the broadband grant speed to all premises in rural, economically challenged communities where broadband service does not exist. Program guidance and application forms are available on USDA's website.
Source: Federal Register
Related funding:
Community Connect Broadband Grant Program
May 6, 2026 - A Missouri University of Science and Technology medical drone delivery program is trialing the delivery of time-sensitive medical materials, including blood and lab samples, between hospital hubs and smaller communities in Missouri.
Source: Fox News
May 6, 2026 - Lackey Memorial Hospital in Scott County, Mississippi will soon apply for Rural Health Transformation Program funds, to modernize technology in medical record keeping and surgical operations. The state has received almost $206 million for the first year of the program.
Source: WLBT
May 5, 2026 - Highlights the role of the Texas Health Resources mobile medical simulation lab in providing on-site training for rural healthcare providers outside the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Source: High Plains Public Radio
May 4, 2026 - Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced the application process is underway for $209 million in funding through the Rural Health Transformation Program. Initial awards will be centered on the Telehealth, Health‑Monitoring, and Response Innovation for Vital Expansion (THRIVE) initiative, which will modernize rural healthcare delivery through telehealth, emergency medical response systems, and remote patient monitoring technologies.
Source: Office of Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders
Apr 29, 2026 - Describes the implementation of the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program in Choctaw Nation and Osage Nation. Discusses the opportunities that become available to communities once reliable broadband is available.
Source: KOSU, NPR
Apr 28, 2026 - Discusses the implementation of prescription benefit information in electronic health records among rural providers. Discusses federal policy work to ease challenges with using health technology in rural practices.
Source: GovCIO Media & Research
Apr 20, 2026 - Examines ways in which rural communities can create accountable care programs, using funds from the Rural Health Transformation Program. Notes that rural areas have tighter social networks, clearer referral pathways, and fewer competing delivery systems, which can support accountable care after infrastructure is in place.
Source: Health Affairs
Apr 14, 2026 - Notice of proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) proposing to improve the electronic exchange of healthcare data and streamline processes related to prior authorization by increasing the interoperability of systems used across the healthcare industry. Among other things, this rule proposes new requirements for Medicare Advantage (MA) organizations, state Medicaid fee-for-service (FFS) programs, state Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) FFS programs, Medicaid managed care plans, CHIP managed care entities, and Qualified Health Plan (QHP) issuers on the Federally-facilitated Exchanges (FFEs) to make electronic prior authorization for drugs available; to report their application programming interfaces (API) endpoints and related information for the Patient Access, Provider Directory, Provider Access, Payer-to-Payer, and Prior Authorization APIs to CMS; and extend many existing interoperability requirements for the prior authorization of non-drug items and services to include prior authorizations for drugs. In addition, ONC proposes adopting updated versions of certain health information technology (health IT) standards and specifications for HHS use. Comments are due by June 15, 2026.
Source: Federal Register
Apr 14, 2026 - Google.org and the Johnson & Johnson Foundation are investing $10 million into training rural healthcare workers to use AI-powered tools. The initiative is intended to automate scheduling, streamline patient documentation, and make clinic operations more efficient, in facilities that are struggling with workforce shortages and administrative overload.
Source: The Tech Buzz