WASHINGTON — The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services awarded $20 million to expand virtual care, upgrade electronic health records, improve cybersecurity and deploy new technology for rural North Carolina healthcare providers on Sept. 30, targeting some of the state’s most medically underserved communities.
The grant focuses on Appalachian and rural communities facing persistent shortages of in-person medical services, CMS said.
Rural North Carolina, particularly the state’s western mountain counties, experiences some of the nation’s most severe healthcare access challenges. Multiple rural hospitals have closed in the state in recent years, and physician shortages are chronic in communities far from major medical centers.
The $20 million investment covers telehealth infrastructure to enable remote patient consultations, electronic health record interoperability to improve information sharing between providers, and cybersecurity hardening to protect patient data — an area of growing concern after multiple healthcare cyberattacks nationwide.
For residents of rural North Carolina who may drive an hour or more to see a specialist, expanded telehealth infrastructure can mean the difference between receiving timely care and going without it. Federal studies have identified rural health technology gaps as a major driver of health disparities in underserved communities.
The award is part of CMS’s broader rural health investment portfolio, which has directed federal resources toward closing the healthcare access gap between urban and rural America.
Federally Qualified Health Centers and other safety-net providers in the targeted areas are expected to be among the primary beneficiaries of the technology investments, CMS said.
The National Rural Health Association has advocated for increased federal investment in rural health technology, arguing that telehealth expansion is essential to maintaining viable healthcare delivery in communities that cannot support traditional brick-and-mortar facilities.