Grants to help rural providers connect to Arkansas HIE

Rural providers in Arkansas will have the opportunity to receive up to $10,000 in funding to connect their EHR systems to the state HIE, the State Health Alliance for Records Exchange (SHARE), according to an announcement.

The SHARE Connectivity Program will award funding to critical access hospitals (CAHs) and small rural hospitals (SRHs) in 11 Delta counties in addition to 7 other countries to help with connection costs.

In total, the Delta Regional Authority will contribute $125,300 in total investment to support 12 eligible CAHs and SRHs in the Delta region, in addition to $70,000 in funds committed by the Arkansas Office of Health IT.

“These small hospital systems are a critical part of the Arkansas healthcare network,” Office of Health IT Director Scott Ray said in a statement. “Having them connect to SHARE will give them access to more complete health information about their patients, and improve their ability to coordinate their patients’ care with other providers.”