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H H S Department of Health and Human Services
Health Resources and Services Administration
Rural Health

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Telehealth

The Role of Telehealth in an Evolving Health Care Environment Institute of Medicine report (11/20/2012)

Telehealth professionalTelehealth is the use of electronic information and telecommunications technologies to support long-distance clinical health care, patient and professional health-related education, public health and health administration. Technologies include videoconferencing, the internet, store-and-forward imaging, streaming media, and terrestrial and wireless communications. HRSA works to increase and improve the use of telehealth to meet the needs of underserved people by:

  • Fostering partnerships within HRSA, and with other Federal agencies, states and private sector groups to create telehealth projects.
  • Administering telehealth grant programs.
  • Providing technical assistance.
  • Evaluating the use of telehealth technologies and programs.
  • Developing telehealth policy initiatives to improve access to quality health services.
  • Promoting knowledge exchange about "best telehealth practices."

Telehealth Grant Programs

Licensure Portability is a competitive grant program that provides support for State professional licensing boards to carry out programs under which licensing boards of various States cooperate to develop and implement State policies that will reduce statutory and regulatory barriers to telemedicine. 

Telehealth Network is a competitive grant program that funds projects that demonstrate the use of telehealth networks to improve healthcare services for medically underserved populations in urban, rural, and frontier communities.

Telehealth Resource Center is a competitive grant program that provides support for the establishment and development of Telehealth Resource Centers (TRCs). These centers are to assist health care organizations, health care networks, and health care providers in the implementation of cost-effective telehealth programs to serve rural and medically underserved areas and populations.