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Rural medical facilities are lining up for federal grants to fund telemedicine projects.

Alabama
The University of Alabama’s Rural Health Institute for Clinical and Translational Science has received funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’sDistance Learning and Telemedicine Grant Program to expand telemedicine efforts in rural areas of the state
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The Rural Health Institute received $99,800 for one year and was one of 191 applications that competed for funding. The institute is part of the university’s College of Community Health Sciences and conducts research to improve health in rural Alabama.

The grant will enable the Rural Health Institute to assist the college in increasing the availability of clinical telemedicine, especially in regard to psychiatry and obstetrical services. The project will also enable medical students and residents to learn more about telemedicine and its application in rural areas.

The college provides tele-psychiatry services to rural mental health centers in West Alabama. Through a program with the West Alabama Mental Health Center in Demopolis, mental-health centers in that city and in five surrounding counties are directly linked to psychiatrists at University Medical Center which the college operates.

South Dakota
Sixteen rural hospitals in the Mount Rushmore State will receive a total of more than $244,000 in grants for technology projects, from laboratory electronic medical records to a medication labeling and barcode system.

In announcing the grants, Doneen Hollingsworth - the state’s Secretary of Health - said, “From electronic medical records to telemedicine capabilities, technology is increasingly important in delivering health care in both urban and rural settings.” But Hollingsworth notes that rural hospitals with limited resources have found it challenging to keep up with the rapid changes. “That’s why we’re pleased to provide these grants to help support technology projects in rural facilities,” she added.

The grant funding comes through the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program. With these latest grants, South Dakota has awarded more than $3,370,000 to rural hospitals through the program over the last nine years.

New York State
An editorial in the Daily News of Batavia reports the Western New York Rural Area Health Education Center has received a $260,000 federal matching grant which will go towards the installation of telemedicine equipment at six hospitals, four clinics and two child development centers.

The editorial notes that rural Western New York residents face expensive and time-consuming commutes to larger cities where medical specialists tend to locate their offices. The new telemedicine equipment will make for more convenient “visits” with physicians and more accessible consultations. The newspaper believes that telemedicine will also make it easier for the rural areas to recruit doc- tors and medical staff.

Wyoming
According to the Associated Press, the Wyoming Board of Medicine granted a record number of medical licenses during 2009. But fewer than one in five physicians who received licenses during the year are working full-time in that state. The others appear to be using telemedicine from locations outside Wyoming to help fill gaps in coverage due to a physician shortage. Only 18% of the 301 doctors licensed in 2009 have full-time practices in Wyoming.

The Wyoming Office of Rural Health reported in June, 2009 that 13 of the state’s 23 counties were experiencing a shortage of primary care physicians. There are few incentives for opening a practice in an underserved area. The doctors who practice in the rural counties typically work longer hours and have lower incomes than physicians in urban areas.

Kevin Bohnenblust - Executive Director of the Wyoming Board of Medicine - says the increase in licenses is having a positive effect because the state’s small population makes it difficult to support medical specialists.
The spread of telemedicine will provide greater access to healthcare while saving time.

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