Rural Hospitals to Use Grant to Enhance Virtual Care Access

Multiplan Corporation has extended financial support via a grant to two rural hospitals, both of which plan to apply the new funds to improve access to virtual care.

Using technology and data analytics, MultiPlan aims to assist healthcare payers in managing their health plans cost-effectively while also contracting with providers to offer flexible provider networks to various payers.

The company has been offering a grant to support rural healthcare since 1995. Called the MultiPlan Rural Health Grant, recipients use the funds to help launch and expand services, education, and screenings, among other initiatives.

Two hospitals were awarded the 2022 Multiplan Rural Health Grant, totaling $41,000. The grant recipients are Cimarron Memorial Hospital in Boise City, Oklahoma, and Cheyenne County Hospital in St. Francis, Kansas.

“We received 81 applications for our Rural Health Grant this year and I wish we could fund all of these worthy programs,” said Bruce Singleton, senior vice president of network development strategy for MultiPlan, in a press release. “The two recipients selected illustrate the valuable role that technology plays in helping healthcare providers deliver care to people in their communities.”

Serving a community of 2,300 residents across 1,800 square miles in Oklahoma, Cimmarron Memorial Hospital found that patients often struggle with finding transportation to its facility, according to the press release. Using the MultiPlan Rural Health Grant, the hospital plans to launch a mobile telehealth unit to bring healthcare services to county residents living in far-flung areas.

Cheyenne County Hospital will use the new funds to purchase tablets and expand access to the internet to provide behavioral health services in the rural community it serves in Northwest Kansas, where it is the only healthcare provider for a 50-mile radius, the press release notes. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the hospital collaborated with the local county health department to provide older community members with behavioral health services through tablets and financial support.

Similarly, federal funding provided last November 2022 helped Avera Health launch telehealth training initiatives. The first grant Avera received sought to support a three-year Rural Public Health Workforce Training Program, which provided cross-training on telehealth, health information technology, and virtual care services.

The second grant was part of the Nurse Education, Practice, Quality, and Retention Registered Nurse Training Program. Avera stated that it would support a project to prepare nurses to work in rural acute-care critical access hospitals through education on cultural awareness, social determinants of health, and health literacy.

Another grant from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration extended to Avera Health in October 2022 aimed to improve maternal care outcomes while enhancing rural healthcare access.

Noting that pregnant women often have difficulty traveling long distances to visit a primary care provider, Avera Health announced plans to add telehealth and remote patient monitoring services for maternity care. The health system also said it would use the funding for research on obstetrics needs in the state.