On Wednesday, USDA announced that it is awarding nearly $8 million to bolster telehealth projects across the country, Modern Healthcare reports.
More than 30 telehealth programs, all of which are based in rural communities, received the USDA funding. Forty-five percent of the funds will go to counties where minorities account for more than one-third of the population.
Some of the organizations receiving the USDA funds are:
- Appalachian College of Pharmacy in Oakwood, Va., which received $149,094 to acquire telehealth equipment for a chronic disease management project;
- Scotland County Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Mo., which received $78,344 to buy new monitors, defibrillators and other tools that will allow ambulance crews to send patient data to emergency and cardiac care departments; and
- The University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, which received $184,327 to add additional videoconferencing equipment to its telehealth program.
A full list of grant recipients is available on USDA's website.
USDA awarded the telehealth funds along with about $6 million to support access to education in rural areas (McKinney, Modern Healthcare, 6/7).