ONC Details Rural Health IT Plan

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT on Monday provided more detail about a promise the White House made last week to aid rural hospitals seeking to expand their health IT infrastructure.

Pursuant to the initiative, rural hospitals installing electronic health records will be able to apply for grants and loans from two Agriculture Department programs:

• The Community Facilities Program, which provides both direct and guaranteed loans and grants. The program more often funds water and environmental improvements, but is not limited to those kinds of efforts.
• The Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant Program, which includes grants to bring telemedicine to rural communities.

USDA and the Health and Human Services Department have signed a memorandum of understanding outlining their cooperation, ONC says.