What is HRSAs vision for health IT for rural providers?
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) was founded to improve access to health care for underserved populations. HRSA’s vision is to leverage the power of health IT to improve patient outcomes, quality, and reduce health disparities for people who are uninsured, isolated, or medically vulnerable. Safety net providers, which include rural health clinics and CAHs, are an important part of this effort. HRSA’s Office of Health Information Technology (OHIT) has begun to play a unique and critical role in the national strategy for health IT. OHIT has initiated a Health IT Technical Assistance Center to support grantees engaged in health IT implementation. In conjunction with OHIT, the Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP) is working to find solutions for developing and implementing health IT capabilities in rural health care settings. Established in 1987, ORHP is an important part of HRSA, helping to shape rural health policy. ORHP has funded various initiatives to promote he
