The HRSA Office of Rural Health Policy distributed the funds through seven grant programs. The awards include $11 million distributed by the Rural Health Network Development Program to coordinate essential services among three or more providers at the community level. The Rural Health Network Development Planning Program — which helps providers created coordinated strategies to achieve efficiencies and increase access to and quality of care — has also distributed almost $5 million in funding to rural communities.
Additionally, HRSA has awarded more than $2.3 million through the Evidence-Based Tele-Emergency Network Program to bolster remote emergency departments and determine the effectiveness of tele-emergency care in rural settings; more than $600,000 through the Telehealth Resource Centers, which help implement cost-effective telehealth programs; more than $1.5 million through the Radiation Exposure Screening and Education Program to create education programs and screen patients for radiogenic diseases; and more than $1 million through two programs meant to improve emergency medical services — the Rural Access to Emergency Devices Program and the Public Access to Defibrillation Demonstration Project.
A full list of grant recipients is available on HRSA’s website.
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