State Demographics
RUPRI Demographics & Economic Profile
U.S. Census Bureau State & County Quick Facts
USDA State Fact Sheets
Rural Assistance Center (RAC) State Profile

Legislation
Telemedicine Legislation
State telemedicine legislation addresses various providers, including physicians, dentists, chiropractors, nurses, and other health professionals. This site includes telemedicine-related laws; however, it does not include all appropriations bills that fund telemedicine initiatives.

Telemedicine
Telemedicine Information Exchange
A list of telemedicine and telehealth programs for all states.

Home Telehealth Programs
Telehealth programs listed by state.

State Activities in Telehealth
A list of telehealth activities throughout each state.

Eastern North Carolina Telehealth Network
The goal of this project is to leverage our extensive experience in telemedicine and successful sustained operations to establish four new telemedicine sites in medically-underserved rural communities in Eastern North Carolina.

North Carolina Community Telehealth Program
The three year program was funded by the North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund Commission (NCHWTF), and created the Patient Provider Community Telehealth Network that is available to more than 40,000 residents in Bertie, Gates, Hertford, and Northampton counties.

Health Information Exchange (HIE) and Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIO)
HIMSS HIT Dashboard
Click on your state to see a list of Health Information Exchanges (HIE) and Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIO) and other Health Information Technology related projects going on throughout the state.

Blue Ridge Backbone: Western North Carolina Data Link
A work in progress since 1999, western North Carolina’s RHIO includes four hospitals already exchanging patient data and plans for an electronic medical record for every resident.

Grant Funded HIT Projects

2007 USDA Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant Recipients
October 1, 2007 . Acting Agriculture Secretary Conner announced the selection of 78 grant recipients for Distance Learning and Telemedicine grants totaling $22.3 million in 31 states. The Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) grant program was created to improve access to education and medical services through the use of technology. Of the grants announced today, 38 will provide access to medical services and 40 will be used to improve educational opportunities. The grant funds will be awarded to the selected recipients contingent upon meeting the conditions of the grant agreement.

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) HIT Grants
In September 2004, the Agency for Health care Research and Quality (AHRQ) awarded $139 million in contracts and grants to promote the use of health information technology (health IT) through the development of networks for sharing clinical data as well as projects for planning, implementing, and demonstrating the value of health IT.  Click on the link above to see what grants have been awarded in this state.

Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Telehealth Grantees, 2005
In 2005, HRSA administered 159 telehealth/telemedicine projects. Of those, 92 were awarded funds totaling more than $34.9 million. Projects receive funds in one of four ways: The Telehealth Network Grant Program, Rural Telemedicine Grant Program, Congressionally Mandated Projects, and Special Projects. 

Rural Assistance Center's (RAC) List of Funding Opportunities
Up-to-date summaries of funding programs are provided by RAC for your convenience. Please contact the funder directly for the most complete and current information.

HIT Survey Information
Responses for the 2006 TASC HIT Survey

The Technical Assistance and Services Center (TASC) surveyed 8 Critical Access Hospitals in North Carolina to identify their use of HIT.  A summary of the survey is as follows:

• 63% of hospitals have a formal IT plan
• 88% have funding included in their budget for purchasing information technology
  
• 1 out of 8 hospitals said their clinicians use hand held computers/ PDAs

• All hospitals have internet (100% high-speed, 25% wireless)
• 100% of hospitals said they have encrypted secure e-mail access for all staff to protect patient confidentiality
• 100% have computerized claims submissions and 100% have computerized patient billing
• 100% have computerized payroll
• 100% have computerized registration and admission
  
• 38% of the hospitals use bar-coded patient identification bracelets
• 75% of hospitals surveyed do NOT use electronic medical records
  
• 13% of the hospitals surveyed keep physician's notes and 13% keep vital signs records in electronic format
  
• 38% of hospital pharmacies have computerized allergy and drug interactions and 38% have computerized dose recommendations
  
• 38% of hospital pharmacies have an automated medication dispensing machine
  
• 25% of the hospitals use telepharmacy
  
• 75% have computerized clinician review of radiology results
• 7 out of 8 hospitals use teleradiology technology to transmit images electronically
• 0 out of 8 hospitals use telemedicine to consult with clinicians at other sites regarding patient diagnosis and/or treatment
• 13% of the hospitals transmit EKG tracings electronically to clinicians at other sites
  
• 38% of hospitals do NOT share clinical data with selected other departments within the hospital
• 13% of hospitals surveyed have physician offices or clinics connected electronically to the hospital's information system
• 25% have long-term care facilities connected electronically to the hospital's information system
• 25% of the hospitals share clinical data electronically with other hospital
  
  

Other HIT Activities
North Carolina Health Information Security and Privacy Collaboration
The Federal government has funded the HISPC state projects that will assess and develop plans to address variations in organization-level business policies and state laws that affect privacy and security practices-including those related to HIPAA-and may pose challenges to interoperable health information exchange. RTI International is the contractor for these projects and NCHICA has been awarded the subcontract for the state of North Carolina.

North Carolina Division of Public Health Information Technology
DPH Information Technology (DPH-IT) serves the Public Health user community by providing innovative, contemporary and accessible technology in computing, media and communication services so they can more effectively meet their goals. DPH-IT collaborates with Public Health and other North Carolina state government entities to provide this technological leadership.

North Carolina State Office of Rural Health

For additional information, please visit the Rural Health Resource Center web site at www.ruralcenter.org.