HHS Awards $15 Million to 159 Providers for Telehealth Training, Expansion
The money, allocated in the CARES Act and disbursed through the HRSA, will help hospitals and health systems train their staff to use telehealth and expand virtual care services to meet demand caused by COVID-19.
The Health and Human Services Department is dispensing $15 million in funding to almost 160 healthcare providers across the country to help them expand telehealth services to meet demands caused by the Coronavirus pandemic.
The money, allocated in the CARES Act, is being issued through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and is earmarked to “train students, physicians, nurses, physician assistants, allied health and other high-demand professionals in telehealth” and expand connected health platforms to replace or complement in-person care.
(For more coronavirus updates, visit our resource page, updated twice daily by Xtelligent Healthcare Media.)
“This new funding from Congress will enable more heroic health professionals on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic to use telehealth for a broad range of care,” HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in a press release. “President Trump has created historic opportunities to deliver care safely and effectively via telehealth during the pandemic, including through everyday tools like FaceTime and Skype, and we are committed to helping providers and patients, especially in vulnerable communities, maximize all of these new telehealth options.”
The awards were issued through five programs overseen by HRSA’s Bureau of Health Workforce:
- Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement (48 awards totaling $4.35 million);
- Area Health Education Centers (44 awards totaling $4.2 million);
- Centers of Excellence (18 awards totaling $2.7 million);
- Nurse Education, Practice, Quality and Retention for Veteran Nurses in Primary Care Training (seven awards totaling $449,995); and
- Nurse Education, Practice, Quality and Retention for Registered Nurses in Primary Care Training (42 awards totaling $3,299,982).
“Telehealth is a vital tool for our providers in delivering critical treatment to populations most seriously impacted by this pandemic,” HRSA Administrator Tom Engels added in the press release. “As we look to build and prepare the future workforce, telehealth has opened up new possibilities to educate and clinically train health providers to connect with patients, when and where they need services.”
