|
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Office for the Advancement of Telehealth (OAT) has announced the availability of grants to demonstrate how telehealth programs and networks can improve access to quality health care services in underserved rural and urban communities. The grants are part of the Telehealth Network Grant Program (TNGP) that is limited to programs that serve rural communities, although grantees may be located in urban or rural areas. Grants are to be awarded in two ways.
Telehealth Networks (TNGP-TH) Grants made under this provision will support telehealth networks that provide services in different settings (e.g., long-term care facilities, community health centers or clinics, physician offices, hospitals, schools, assisted living facilities, homes) to demonstrate how telehealth networks can be used to:
(a) expand access to, coordinate, and improve the quality of health care services;
(b) improve and expand the training of health care providers; and/or
(c) expand and improve the quality of health information available to health care providers, patients, and their families.
Telehomecare Networks (TNGP-THC) Grants made under this provision are focused on demonstrating how telehealth networks can improve healthcare through provision of clinical care and remote monitoring of patients in their place of residence using telehealth technologies. TNGP-THC projects provide a mechanism to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of telehomecare services and may include, but are not limited to, case management by physicians, hospitals, medical clinics, home health agencies, or other health care providers who supervise the care of patients in their homes.
The OAT's TNGP guidance is available at www.hrsa.gov/grants/default.htm and questions about the grants can be emailed to oatcomp@hrsa.gov. Additional information on speech-language pathology and audiology telepractice can be found on ASHA's Web site. For further information, please contact Janet Brown, ASHA’s Director of Health Care Services in Speech-Language Pathology, at jbrown@asha.org or Jim Potter, ASHA’s Director of Government Relations & Public Policy, at jpotter@asha.org
|