Rural Project Examples: Technology for health and human services

Promising Examples

Contingency Management Smoking Cessation in Appalachia
Updated/reviewed June 2022

Need: To reduce smoking rates of pregnant women and adolescents in Appalachian regions of eastern Kentucky and Ohio.
Intervention: A web-based smoking cessation program that offered monetary incentives to reducing smoking.
Results: Participants significantly reduced smoking rates or quit altogether.

Beacon Health Accountable Care Organization
Updated/reviewed October 2022

Need: To implement coordinated healthcare to improve patient health and engagement and to reduce the overall cost of medical services in Maine.
Intervention: The Beacon Health network launched with a focus on patient-centered care to improve overall wellness and reduce ever-increasing healthcare costs.
Results: Through care coordination, Beacon Health is enhancing provider efficiency and a team approach to delivering care, leading to improved patient engagement and healthcare quality and lowering the overall cost of care.

North Carolina Innovative Approaches Initiative
Updated/reviewed July 2022

Need: Children and youth with special healthcare needs (CYSHCN) face many barriers to coordinated, comprehensive, and culturally competent healthcare.
Intervention: The North Carolina Innovative Approaches (IA) Initiative works with families of CYSHCN and other community leaders to make systems changes in the state's healthcare system.
Results: IA has impacted 22 counties and has had a positive impact on increasing family engagement and community capacity for systems changes.

HCC of Lafayette County's Heath Information Technology Workgroup
Updated/reviewed January 2019

Need: To ensure the quality and sustainability of rural West Central Missouri's health services through the use of technology.
Intervention: The Health Care Coalition of Lafayette County convened a Health Information Technology (HIT) workgroup to establish electronic medical and prescription records, telemedicine capabilities, and training for Lafayette County and surrounding areas.
Results: The workgroup fully equipped a local emergency department with HIT, launched electronic prescriptions for nearly a dozen Lafayette County providers, and identified acute needs hindering the adoption of electronic health records.

For examples from other sources, see: