Shapiro Administration Invests $27 Million for Rural Health Care Facilities to Establish Electronic Health Records, Join PA Patient Network to Improve Care Coordination |[...]

Nearly $27 million available to help rural health care providers transition to electronic health record systems, join statewide health information exchange that improves information sharing and care management across providers and systems

Harrisburg, PA - The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (PA DHS) today announced that nearly $27 million is available through two funding opportunities to help rural health care providers, including hospitals, long-term care nursing facilities, behavioral health providers, and health centers, among others, invest in technology that improves patient experience and care.

Funded through Pennsylvania's Rural Health Transformation Plan (RHTP) award, the funding will support qualified providers looking to implement electronic health records and join Pennsylvania's Patient & Provider Network, which improves information sharing between health providers and systems, leading to better care.

The funding opportunity is open for Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and FQHC look-alikes until August 7, or until available funding is fully committed. The opportunity is open for hospitals, long-term nursing care facilities, behavioral health providers, and others until August 14, or until available funding is fully committed.

"Electronic health records and interoperability between health systems increases information available to providers to offer individualized, informed care that considers a person's holistic health needs and experiences. Historically, the onus would be on a patient to provide this information - a system that can be burdensome at best and, at times, impossible," said PA DHS Secretary Dr. Val Arkoosh. "These funding opportunities will help rural health providers make this investment in their system, their workforce, and their patients - improving efficiency and operations and, most importantly, improving care and coordination for their patients."

Pennsylvania was awarded $193 million in federal funding for the first year of its approved five-year RHTP. Year One of the grant will primarily focus on rapid response program payments, while the majority of the plan is built around regional oversight and recommendations for funding. Additional funding opportunities will be announced in the near future. More information about upcoming rapid response funding opportunities is available here.

The Shapiro Administration's RHTP was informed by extensive feedback and the priorities of stakeholders across rural Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania's Departments of Human Services and Health, along with Aging, Insurance, and Drug and Alcohol Programs worked collaboratively with rural stakeholders, community and educational leaders, County Commissioners, and the Pennsylvania General Assembly for more than two years, hosting listening sessions, regional rural health summits, and, most recently, open feedback opportunities specific to the RHTP.

Based on the feedback received, the Shapiro Administration drafted a federally approved, comprehensive plan in line with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' primary goals. The Commonwealth's RHTP initiatives focus on:

• Technology and Infrastructure, including the use of consumer-facing applications that support easy access to primary and specialty care;

• Workforce, including supporting incentives like upfront scholarships, mentoring, short-term housing, and stipends based on a five-year commitment to service in rural communities;

• Maternal Health Services to provide comprehensive care management and navigation between prenatal and postpartum care, behavioral health, and other services to support safe and healthy pregnancies and parenting;

• Behavioral Health Services like expanding 988 services and continuing public education on crisis response services;

• Aging and Access to facilitate safe transitions from hospitalization to care at home and support quality of care in rural long-term care facilities; and

• EMS and Transportation to modernize rural EMS infrastructure to improve efficiency and sustainability.

RHTP funding comes from the Rural Health Transformation Fund, which was established by the federal budget reconciliation bill last summer. The law included a five-year, $50 billion nationwide grant designed to support rural health. Under federal law, RHTP funds cannot replace existing federal dollars that may be cut or lost due to other program changes.

Funding was allocated by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) based on rules established by Congress dictating that half of the funding per year will be distributed to each approved applicant state with opportunities to receive additional funding based on state characteristics including rural population, land area, amount of uncompensated care, and the grant submission itself, to be awarded at discretion of the HHS leadership. Unspent funds from states and territories will be reallocated back into the program, so there will be opportunities to pursue additional funding based on program and initiative performance.

For more information on the RHTP and rural health initiatives in Pennsylvania, visit https://www.dhs.pa.gov/ruralhealth.

This project is supported by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $193,294,053.98, pending approval of revised budget, with 100 percent funded by CMS/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CMS/HHS, or the U.S. Government.