Telehealth and Health Information Technology in Rural Healthcare – Funding & Opportunities

Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program Hardship Exception Application Inactive
CMS eligible hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) may be exempted from the Medicare Promoting Interoperability payment adjustment if they can show that compliance with the requirement for being a meaningful EHR user would result in a significant hardship. Eligible hospitals and CAHs may submit a hardship exception application each year for a maximum of 5 years.

Foundation for Rural Service Community Grant Program Inactive
Grants to support a variety of local efforts to build and sustain a high quality of life in rural communities across America. Focus areas include business development, community development, education, and telecommunications.

Smart Rural Community Showcase Award Inactive
Honors rural communities that have achieved high levels of broadband activity and have used it to support innovative practices in industry sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, safety and security, and economic development.

Pediatric Mental Health Care Access Program Inactive
Funding to promote behavioral health integration in pediatric primary care by supporting the development of new, or the improvement of existing, statewide or regional pediatric mental healthcare telehealth access programs.

Small Rural Hospital Improvement Program (SHIP) Inactive
Provides funding to small rural hospitals, through their State Office of Rural Health, to help them do any or all of the following: purchase equipment or training to attain value-based payment and care goals; join Medicare Shared Savings Program or become an accountable care organization; and purchase health information technology, equipment, or training.

Geriatrics Academic Career Award Program Inactive
Funding to support the career development of junior faculty in geriatrics as academic geriatricians or academic geriatrics specialists. The overall goals of the program are to develop the necessary skills to lead healthcare transformation in a variety of settings, including rural and/or medically underserved settings, to be age-friendly and to provide training in clinical geriatrics, including the training of interprofessional teams of healthcare professionals to provide healthcare for older adults.

Rural Public Health Workforce Training Network Program Inactive
Funding to support rural health networks to address the need for more trained health professionals, which has been amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. The overall program goal is to expand public health capacity by supporting healthcare job development, training, and placement in rural communities.

Health Center Controlled Networks Inactive
Grants to support Health Center Controlled Networks to advance the adoption and meaningful use of health information technology strategies and to leverage technology to deliver high-quality, culturally competent, equitable, and comprehensive primary healthcare.

Rural Veterans Health Access Program Inactive
Grants for current Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program award recipients in states with certified Critical Access Hospitals to work with providers and other partners to improve access to needed healthcare services and to improve the coordination of care for veterans living in rural areas.

Public Health Informatics and Technology Workforce Development Program Inactive
Funding to increase the number of public health professionals trained in informatics and technology with an emphasis on improving public health reporting through modern standards and computing. Through an interdisciplinary approach to data science and managing public health information, the program is designed to build capacity of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, other minority serving institutions, and other colleges and universities to educate and diversify the future public health workforce.