A new online toolkit will serve as a pilot program for providing health information technology (HIT) resources to rural health care providers. The toolkit, developed by the Rural Assistance Center (RAC) and the National Rural Health Resource Center (The Center) is designed to help rural providers find resources for HIT, electronic health records (EHR), meaningful use and related topics. Funding for the toolkit, available at http://www.raconline.org/hit/, is provided by the federal Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP).

This toolkit was developed as a result of the President’s Rural Health Initiative, which identifies HIT as a priority. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius established the Rural HIT Taskforce to address challenges rural communities face in adopting HIT and achieving meaningful use. The taskforce offers ways to meet those challenges and show rural communities how to coordinate federal resources. The taskforce is co-chaired by HRSA Administrator Dr. Mary Wakefield and National Coordinator for HIT Dr. Farzad Mostashari.

Using the toolkit, rural communities will be able to:

Address challenges in finding capital funding
Provide support to community colleges to enhance training programs
Stay informed about legislation affecting EHRs
Leverage multiple federal resources for project development

Toolkit resources provide guidance in the planning, setup, implementation and operation of an HIT infrastructure. Additional information also shows where to find training programs, funding support and management expertise. Resources are broken down by category and topic for easier access, and can be sorted for more specific results.

For more information
Kristine Sande, RAC Program Director
701.777.6466