Alabama Rural Health Transformation Program - Implement statewide sustainable rural healthcare initiatives that support the goals of the program by transforming the healthcare delivery ecosystem. - Alabama Rural Health Transformation Program (ARHTP) State of Alabama, Director of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) as its AOR Subrecipients: To be determined Total Budget Request: $1 billion Purpose and Outcomes Through its RHTP, Alabama aims to modernize and integrate its rural health system to ensure equitable, efficient, and sustainable access to high-quality care. The program is designed to: • Enhance health information technology (IT) and cybersecurity through regional shared-service hubs supporting Electronic Health Record (EHR) integration and compliance. • Expand access to care via telehealth, remote monitoring, and regional specialty networks. • Address maternal and cancer care deserts through digital regionalization and mobile screening models. • Strengthen the healthcare workforce through rural training pipelines, simulation training programs, and expanded Graduate Medical Education (GME) opportunities. • Improve behavioral health access by converting Community Mental Health Centers into Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs). Project Design and Activities Alabama will use the funds from the RHTP to implement eleven interrelated initiatives statewide: • Collaborative EHR, IT, and Cybersecurity: Regional IT hubs supporting EHR integration, IT infrastructure, and security. • Rural Health: Statewide telehealth/teleconsult network for specialty access. • Maternal and Fetal Health: Digital obstetric regionalization and telerobotic ultrasound. • Rural Workforce: Physician, nurse, emergency medical service (EMS), midwife, dentist, and dental hygienist and dental assistant training programs. • Cancer Digital Regionalization: Mobile and regional cancer screening. • Simulation Training: Specialty-based simulation education expansion. • Statewide EMS Trauma and Stroke: Improving the statewide EMS diversion and routing system. • Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Treat-in-Place: EMS pilot for on-site treatment of low-acuity patients. • Mental Health: Behavioral health facility conversion and expansion. • Community Medicine: Mobile wellness and nutrition units. • Rural Health Practice: Networked clinics integrating behavioral, physical, and dental health.
