Telehealth Programs

 

The purpose of the Telehealth Network Program (TNGP) is to fund programs that demonstrate how telehealth networks improve healthcare services in rural communities. The Telehealth Resource Centers (TRCs) are designed to expand the availability of technical assistance in the development of telehealth services, leveraging the experience of mature programs with expertise in providing and implementing telehealth services. The Licensure Portability Grant Program (LPGP) supports state professional licensing boards to carry out programs under which licensing boards of various states cooperate to develop and implement state laws and related policies that will reduce statutory and regulatory barriers to the provision of health care services through telemedicine technology. The Evidence-Based Telehealth Network Program (EB-TNP) increases access to healthcare services utilizing Direct to Consumer technologies. It enhances the existing health care infrastructure and increases access to care for underserved populations utilizing synchronous video visits and remote patient monitoring for primary focus areas such as behavioral health, primary care, and acute care. It also expands access to services for rural patients and conducts evaluations of those efforts to establish an evidence base for assessing the effectiveness of telehealth care for patients, providers, and payers. The Telehealth Centers of Excellence (COEs) assess specific telehealth uses, operate as incubators to pilot, track and refine telehealth, examine the efficacy of telehealth services in rural and urban areas and explore new telehealth applications for telehealth research and resources. The Telehealth Technology-Enabled Learning Program (TTELP) purpose is to connect specialists at academic medical centers with primary care providers in rural and underserved areas, providing evidence-based training and support to help them treat patients with complex conditions in their communities. The Telehealth Broadband Pilot (TBP) Program aims to assess the broadband capacity available to rural healthcare providers and patient communities and to improve their ability to participate in telehealth services through cross-agency collaboration. The Telehealth Focused Rural Health Research Center program is designed to increase the amount of publicly available, high quality, impartial, policy-relevant research to assist decision makers at the federal, state, and local levels to better understand the challenges faced by rural and underserved communities and providers.

Active 93.211 Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Health and Human Services B - Project Grants Fiscal Year 2019 Telehealth Network Grant Program • By August 2019, 204 rural schools, in high poverty areas, received telehealth services as a result of this Program. Evidence Based Tele-Behavioral Health Program • Improved access to quality services through offering continuity of behavioral health care with a trusted provider. The providers experienced reduced no show rates for patients due to the decrease in travel, patients are able to access providers closer to home. • Increased innovative ways to utilize telehealth. One program is utilizing telehealth on a mobile van to provide Medication Assisted Treatment for Substance Use Disorder patients. Centers of Excellence Program • Produced over 25 publications and many presentations and reports on telehealth • COEs have consulted with over 70 organizations that include academic, government, or private health systems to provide TA. Licensure Portability Grant Program • The program continues to educate and engage stakeholders from telehealth and multi-state health care provider organizations about the benefits of the IMLC in reducing administrative burdens for clinicians using telemedicine or other healthcare services in multiple jurisdictions. • The program continues to develop and maintain a comprehensive psychology licensure focused research center that combines multiple points of data. Telehealth Resource Centers Program • In 2019, the TRCs increased their outreach and education with nearly 9,000 attending their webinar trainings and have reached over 7,000 through regional conferences and training events with audience members of primarily state leaders, health system executives, and medical providers. • In 2019, they developed several new telehealth educational materials such as the Telehealth Coordinator eTraining Toolkit, Telegentics Toolkit, Digital Health Training Modules, 50 State Telehealth Laws, Regulations and Medicaid Reimbursement Policies Report, and a Physician Assistant Telehealth Survey Report.
Fiscal Year 2020 Telehealth Network Grant Program • By August 2020, 204 rural schools, in high poverty areas, received telehealth services as a result of this Program. Evidence Based Tele-Behavioral Health Program • Improved access to quality services through offering continuity of behavioral health care with a trusted provider at over 60 sites. • Increased access to specialty providers (i.e. Psychiatry) closer to home. • Increased innovative ways to utilize telehealth. One program is utilizing telehealth on a mobile van to provide Medication Assisted Treatment for Substance Use Disorder patients. • In year 2 (Aug. 2019-Sept. 2020) awardees presented at local, regional, and national conferences about tele-behavioral health data and best practices. Centers of Excellence Program • In Year 3, the Telehealth COEs served over 6,000 patients and supported Community Health Centers and School Districts with telehealth services. Awardees spanned over 30 individual projects including focus on COVID-19 and resulting in over 40 publications and reports on telehealth. COEs have consulted with over 70 organizations that include academic, government, or private health systems to provide TA. Licensure Portability Grant Program • The program continues to educate and engage stakeholders from telehealth and multi-state health care provider organizations about the benefits of the IMLC in reducing administrative burdens for clinicians using telemedicine or other healthcare services in multiple jurisdictions. • The program continues to develop a licensure compact for Physician Assistants. • The program continues to develop and maintain a comprehensive psychology licensure focused research center that combines multiple points of data. • Additional one-time funding under the CARES Act – Coronavirus Licensure Portability Grant Program funding was used to create resources to address challenges for telehealth providers and to add new capacity to help a range of clinicians working with different licensure boards (e.g., physician, nurses, psychologists) to develop and implement strategies to streamline the process for multi-state licensure procedure(s). Telehealth Resource Centers Program • In 2020, the Telehealth Resource Centers had a 285% increase in direct technical assistance requests between March and October 2020 (as compared to between March and October 2019). • In 2020, the TRCs annually produced dozens of webinars and over 600 training events, hosted regional or state conferences attended by almost 10,000 people and, in total, serve over 50,000 clients annually. • In 2020, the TRCs developed several new telehealth innovations, such as developing interactive digital maps to help consumers identify telehealth resources local to them, a comprehensive telehealth training course to meet state certification (Washington), and maintaining the accuracy of all of their policy guidance for each state, as rapid changes occur during the pandemic, including: current state laws, reimbursement policies, and legislation tracking (CCHP). The TRCs also began work on a best practices guide based on lessons from the field during the pandemic to ensure continued improvement to telehealth delivery after the public health emergency.
Fiscal Year 2021 Telehealth Network Grant Program • By August 2021, 8 rural communities have access to tele-behavioral health services where access did not exist in the community prior to this Program. Evidence Based Telehealth Network Program funded 11 recipients in September 2021 to expand access to Direct to Consumer healthcare across 11 states. Telehealth Centers of Excellence Program (COEs) • Assembled a team of 50 investigators to support over 30 projects that include evaluation, analysis and implementation of innovative approaches to telehealth supporting over 7,500 patients as well as providing technical assistance, workforce support and Project ECHO. The COEs have produced over 75 publications and reports on telehealth and provided 200 presentations. The COEs collaborate with Community Health Centers, School Districts, State Departments of Education State Health Departments, the National Quality Forum, ONC, ATA, SEARCH, and academic and private health systems as well as HRSA stakeholders including Telehealth Resource Centers and Telehealth Focused Rural Health Research Centers. Licensure Portability Grant Program • The program continues to educate and engage stakeholders from telehealth and multi-state health care provider organizations about the benefits of Licensure Compacts in reducing administrative burdens for clinicians using telemedicine or providing other healthcare services in multiple jurisdictions. • The program continues to develop a licensure compact for Physician Assistants. • Launched a comprehensive psychology licensure focused research center website that combines multiple points of data. • Additional one-time funding under the CARES Act – Coronavirus Licensure Portability Grant Program funding was used to create resources to address challenges for telehealth providers and to add new capacity to help a range of clinicians working with different licensure boards (e.g., physician, nurses, psychologists) to develop and implement strategies to streamline the process for multi-state licensure procedure(s). Telehealth Resource Centers Program • In 2020, the Telehealth Resource Centers had a 285% increase in direct technical assistance requests between March and October 2020 (as compared to between March and October 2019). • In 2020, the TRCs annually produced dozens of webinars and over 600 training events, hosted regional or state conferences attended by almost 10,000 people and, in total, serve over 50,000 clients annually. • In 2020, the TRCs developed several new telehealth innovations, such as developing interactive digital maps to help consumers identify telehealth resources local to them, a comprehensive telehealth training course to meet state certification (Washington), and maintaining the accuracy of all of their policy guidance for each state, as rapid changes occur during the pandemic, including: current state laws, reimbursement policies, and legislation tracking (CCHP). The TRCs also successfully launched a best practices guide based on lessons from the field during the pandemic to ensure continued improvement to telehealth delivery after the public health emergency. • Telehealth Broadband Pilot (TBP) Program • In 2021, TTAC, the program implementation grantee, formed a formal Steering Committee to guide the TBP Program, and established a Data Analysis Technical Design Committee to design the technology to measure broadband. TTAC entered into the beta testing phase, readying 65 broadband assessment devices for deployment among four states. • RTEC, the evaluation grantee, mapped and assessed broadband capacity across several existing programs and states, using existing public broadband data. RTEC also created a survey for implementation across the four states to understand perceived benefits and barriers of expanding broadband capacity for telehealth service, including willingness-to-pay. Account Identification • In the first six months of the Telehealth Technology-Enabled Learning Program (TTELP), more than 100 ECHO telementoring sessions reached over 100 different organizations from all fifty states.
Fiscal Year 2022 The Telehealth Network Grant Program for emergency services promotes rural tele-emergency services by enhancing telehealth networks to deliver 24-hour Emergency Department consultation services via telehealth and has served approximately 13,000 patients. In addition, the Evidence Base Telehealth Network Program for Direct-to-Consumer services served approximately 9,000 patients. The Telehealth Resource Centers have provided over 6,000 technical assistance requests to assist providers with implementing telehealth and understanding evolving telehealth policy. In addition, the National Telehealth Technology Assessment Resource Center, continues to implement the Telehealth Broadband Pilot Program, which now has over 350 broadband measurement devices within the four target states – Alaska, Michigan, Texas, and West Virginia—that have resulted in over 290,000 bandwidth tests. The Telehealth Centers of Excellence have contributed to the evidence-base for telehealth with over 20 published articles to date on topics such as telehealth costs and utilization and remote patient monitoring. The Telehealth Technology-Enabled Learning Program recipients held nearly 3,000 provider-to-provider learning sessions with rural primary care providers focusing on issues such as behavioral health and Long COVID. Through the Licensure Portability Grant Program, grantees developed tools such as the Provider Bridge to provide key information for health care professionals across various disciplines, with over 145,000 providers registered to use the platform. (42 U.S.C. 254c-18), Title Public Health Service Act (PHS), Section 330L
(42 USC 254c-14), Title Public Health Service Act (PHS), Section 330I Telehealth Network Grant Program: Eligible applicants shall be domestic public or private, non-profit or for-profit entities with demonstrated experience utilizing telehealth technologies to serve rural underserved populations. This includes faith-based, community-based organizations, and federally-recognized tribes and tribal organizations. Telehealth Resource Center Program: Eligible applicants include public, private non-profit and for-profit entities. Faith-based and community-based organizations, Tribes, and tribal organizations are eligible to apply. Licensure Portability Grant Program: Eligible applicants are limited by statute to state professional licensing boards. Eligible applicants include domestic public or private entities. Evidence-Based Telehealth Network Program: Eligible applicants are domestic public or private, non-profit or for-profit entities with demonstrated experience utilizing telehealth technologies to serve rural underserved populations. This includes faith-based, community-based organizations, and federally-recognized tribes and tribal organizations. The Telehealth Centers of Excellence Program: Limited competition to incumbent Telehealth Centers of Excellence award recipients operating a successful telehealth program in a public academic medical center located in a state with high chronic disease prevalence, high poverty rates, and a large percentage of medically underserved rural areas. Telehealth Technology-Enabled Learning Program: Eligible applicants include all domestic public and private entities, nonprofit and for-profit, are eligible to apply. Domestic faith-based and community-based organizations, tribes, and tribal organizations and organizations based in the territories and freely associated states are also eligible to apply. Telehealth Broadband Pilot Program: Eligible applicants are limited by applicant eligibility requirements to the Telehealth Resource Centers and the Telehealth-Focused Research Center. Telehealth Focused Rural Health Research Center: Eligible applicants include public, for-profit and nonprofit entities. Institutions of higher education, faith-based and community-based organizations, tribes, and tribal organizations are eligible to apply. Health care providers in rural areas and underserved areas; health professionals, scientist/researchers. The entities that will benefit from this program are health care personnel, health research personnel, policy makers, rural and underserved population and the general public. Applicants should review the individual HRSA notice of funding opportunity issued under this Assistance Listing for any required proof or certifications which must be submitted prior to or simultaneous with submission of an application package Preapplication coordination is required. This program is eligible for coverage under E.O. 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs." An applicant should consult the office or official designated as the single point of contact in his or her State for more information on the process the State requires to be followed in applying for assistance, if the State has selected the program for review. An applicant should consult the office or official designated as the single point of contact in his or her State for more information on the process the State requires to be followed in applying for assistance, if the State has selected the program for review. 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. Applications are generally solicited by a notice of funding opportunity in the HRSA Preview. HRSA requires applicants (for new competitions) or awardees (for continuation applications) to submit applications electronically through Grants.gov. The program guidance contains detailed application and submission instructions, including information on the non-competitive continuation application and submission process. Awardees must submit proposals according to the program guidance, which specifies required forms, contains additional general information and instructions for grant applications, including proposal narratives, and budgets. The program guidance, when available, may be obtained by: Downloading from http://www.grants.gov; or, Contacting the HRSA Grants Application Center: The Legin Group, Inc., 910 Clopper Road, Suite 155 South Gaithersburg, MD 20878, Telephone:877-477-2123 , HRSAGAC@hrsa.gov. Application information may also be found by visiting http://www.hrsa.gov/grants/. All qualified applications will be forwarded to an objective review committee. Based on the advice of the objective review committee, the HRSA program official with delegated authority is responsible for final selection and funding decisions. All final funding decisions are made by an independent review panel that is conducted by the Health Resources and Services Administration's Division of Independent Review. Notification is made in writing by a Notice of Award. Contact the headquarters or regional location, as appropriate for application deadlines From 60 to 90 days. 2 months. Not applicable. Renewals have not been determined. See the associated Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for program-specific criteria. All funds awarded should be expended solely for carrying out approved projects in accordance with the intent of the grant or cooperative agreement as stipulated in the notice of award. Not applicable. In accordance with the provisions of 2 CFR 200, Subpart F - Audit Requirements, nonfederal entities that expend financial assistance of $750,000 or more in Federal awards will have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Non-Federal entities that expend less than $750,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in 2 CFR 200.503 In accordance with the provisions of 2 CFR 200, Subpart F - Audit Requirements, non-Federal entities that expend financial assistance of $750,000 or more in federal awards will have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Non-federal entities that expend less than $750,000 a year in federal awards are exempt from federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in 2 CFR 200.503. Awardees are required to maintain grant accounting records 3 years after the date they submit the Federal Financial Review (FFR). If any litigation, claim, negotiation, audit or other action involving the award has been started before the expiration of the 3-year period, the records shall be retained until completion of the action and resolution of all issues that arise from it, or until the end of the regular 3-year period, whichever is later. Statutory formula is not applicable to this assistance listing.

Matching requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. Programs are competed every three to five years. Projects awarded under a competition must complete a non-competing continuation application every year to release funds for the following budget period. Payments are made through an Electronic Transfer System or Cash Demand System. Recipients drawdown funds, as necessary, from the Payment Management System (PMS). PMS is the centralized web based payment system for HHS awards. Headquarters contacts: Carlos Mena, Program Coordinator, Telehealth Network Program, cmena@hrsa.gov, Telephone:(301) 443-3198 Colleen Morris, Program Coordinator, Licensure Portability Grant Program, cmorris2@hrsa.gov, Telephone: (301) 594-4296 Michelle Carnes, Program Coordinator, Telehealth Resource Centers, mcarnes@hrsa.gov, Telephone:(301) 443-0007 Colleen Morris, Program Coordinator, Telehealth Centers of Excellence, cmorris2@HRSA.gov, Telephone: (301) 594-2496 Jenna Cope, Program Coordinator Evidence Based Telehealth Network Program and Telehealth Broadband Pilot Program, jcope@hrsa.gov, Telephone (301) 443-5503 Melody Williams, Program Coordinator, Telehealth Technology-Enabled Learning Program, mwilliams1@hrsa.gov, mwilliams1@hrsa.gov, Telephone (301) 287-2616 Whitney Wiggins, Program Coordinator, Telehealth Focused Rural Health Research Center, wwiggins@hrsa.gov, wwiggins@hrsa.gov, Telephone (301) 443-4966 Office for the Advancement of Telehealth, Federal of Rural Health Policy
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD 20857 US
CMena@hrsa.gov
Phone: 3014430835 https://www.hrsa.gov/telehealth 75-0350-0-1-550 (Project Grants) FY 22$8,912,646.00; FY 23 est $8,628,468.00; FY 24 est $9,000,000.00; FY 21$8,903,348.00; FY 20$8,959,460.00; FY 19$7,246,063.00; FY 18$6,242,829.00; FY 17$6,240,582.00; FY 16$6,286,264.00; - Telehealth Network Grant Program(Project Grants) FY 22$4,500,000.00; FY 23 est $4,500,000.00; FY 24 est $4,500,000.00; FY 21$494,853.00; FY 20$5,500,000.00; FY 19$500,000.00; FY 18$500,000.00; FY 17$500,000.00; FY 16$500,000.00; - Telehealth resource centers program(Project Grants) FY 22$3,788,752.00; FY 23 est $3,810,794.00; FY 24 est $3,813,189.00; FY 21$6,500,000.00; FY 20$6,000,000.00; FY 19$6,000,000.00; FY 18$4,000,000.00; FY 17$1,200,000.00; FY 16$0.00; - Evidence-Based Telehealth Network Program(Project Grants) FY 22$375,853.00; FY 23 est $1,500,000.00; FY 24 est $500,000.00; FY 21$3,812,826.00; FY 20$4,748,950.00; FY 19$4,716,118.00; FY 18$4,900,000.00; FY 17 - Licensure Portability Program(Project Grants) FY 22$7,500,000.00; FY 23 est $8,500,000.00; FY 24 est $8,500,000.00; FY 21$4,500,000.00; FY 20$16,149,994.00; FY 19$4,500,000.00; - Telehealth Centers of Excellence(Project Grants) FY 22$4,251,878.00; FY 23 est $4,276,393.00; FY 24 est $4,266,663.00; FY 21$4,242,350.00; FY 20$0.00; - Telehealth Technology-Enabled Learning Program (TTELP)(Project Grants) FY 22$8,000,000.00; FY 23 est $0.00; FY 24 est $0.00; FY 21$8,000,000.00; FY 20$0.00; - Telehealth Broadband Pilot Program 1/4/2021-12/31/2023 $8,000,000 (Onetime supplemental funding for 3-year budget period)(Cooperative Agreements) FY 22$1,999,998.00; FY 23 est $1,999,998.00; FY 24 est $1,999,998.00; - Telehealth Focused Rural Health Research Center For Telehealth Network Grant Program (30 awards) FY 22 awards range approx. $259,325 to $300,000 average award of approximately $295,000 For Licensure Portability Grant Program (two awards) FY 22 awards range approx. $126,250 to $249,603 For Telehealth Centers of Excellence (two awards): FY 22 awards distributed evenly at $3,500,000 for each awardee For Evidence-Based Telehealth Network Program (11 awards): FY 22 awards range from approximately $315,380 to $350,000 with an average award of $344,432 For Telehealth Resource Centers (14 awards): FY 22 awards distributed evenly at $325,000 for each awardee For Telehealth Technology-Enabled Learning Program (nine awards): FY 22 awards range from approximately $457,298 to $475,000 with an average award of $472,431 For Telehealth Focused Rural Health Research Center (two awards): FY22 awards range from $949,999- $1,049,998 Telehealth programs are subject to the provisions of 45 CFR Part 92 for State, local and tribal governments and 45 CFR Part 74 for institutions of higher education, hospitals, other nonprofit organizations and commercial organizations, as applicable. HRSA awards are subject to the requirements of the HHS Grants Policy Statement (HHS GPS) that are applicable based on recipient type and purpose of award. The HHS GPS is available at http://www.hrsa.gov/grants. Not applicable.