The new grants will support 11 distance learning and seven telemedicine projects in rural areas across 16 states. The telemedicine projects include substance misuse treatment.
“These investments will help provide better health care and educational opportunities for rural residents,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement. “Hospitals, schools and training centers across the country are successfully using telecommunications to deliver quality educational and medical services. Telemedicine, for example, can help treat patients who are struggling with opioid and other substance use disorders that disproportionately affect rural areas by allowing rural hospitals to connect with resources in other health care facilities across the country to better diagnose and treat individuals.”
USDA Rural Development has provided $239.5 million for 729 DLT projects in rural areas nationwide since 2009.
More articles on health IT:
The best, worst states for EHR adoption, HIE, interoperability: 4 findings from ONC
Study finds high variance of errors in pediatric CPOE systems
Russian hackers leak more Olympians’ medical records
