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.

Adirondack Area Network
AAN was created to provide advanced telecommunications services such as distance learning, telemedicine, Internet connectivity and videoconferencing to geographically remote areas in the Adirondack Region of Upstate New York.

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.

Grant Funded HIT Projects
New York Announces $105.75 Million in Grants Available for Interoperable Health Information Technology Plans: Community-Based Proposals Sought to Improve Health Care Quality, Lower Costs
New York is seeking applications for $105.75 million in grants to promote health information technology (IT) through community collaborations to improve health care quality, affordability and better patient outcomes.

The new community-based systems of health information exchange and electronic health records will include strong privacy protections for patients, and should increase patient safety and help reduce medical errors and costs by providing patients' medical histories to aid diagnoses and preventive duplicative testing.

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) Program Awards
Follow the link above to see what USDA Distance Learning and Telemedicine Program Awards have been given out in this state.

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.

Health Information Technology Grants - HEAL NY Phase 1
The first group of projects were selected on May 24, 2006 following a Request for Grant Applications Issued on October 5, 2005. A brief summary introducing the Phase One HIT initiative Categories, Grantees selected and project summaries are included in the HEAL NY Awards section.

Health Information Technology Grants - HEAL NY Phase 2

Health Information Technology Grants - HEAL NY Phase 3

Selected Grant-Funded Health Information Technology Projects in New York State

Medical Society of the State of New York

HIT Survey Information
Responses for the 2006 TASC HIT Survey

The Technical Assistance and Services Center (TASC) surveyed 10 Critical Access Hospitals in New York to identify their use of HIT.  A summary of the survey is as follows:

• 60% of hospitals have a formal IT plan
• 90% have funding included in their budget for purchasing information technology
  
• 4 out of 10 hospitals said their clinicians use hand held computers/ PDAs

• All hospitals have internet (80% high-speed, 20% wireless, 20% dial-up)
• 80% 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
• 90% have computerized payroll
• 100% have computerized registration and admission
  
• 10% of the hospitals use bar-coded patient identification bracelets
• 90% of hospitals surveyed do NOT use electronic medical records
  
• 20% of the hospitals surveyed keep physician's notes and 20% keep vital signs records in electronic format
  
• 40% of hospital pharmacies have computerized allergy and drug interactions and 70% have computerized dose recommendations
  
• 30% of hospital pharmacies have an automated medication dispensing machine
  
• 30% of the hospitals use telepharmacy
  
• 50% have computerized clinician review of radiology results
• 10 out of 10 hospitals use teleradiology technology to transmit images electronically
• 2 out of 10 hospitals use telemedicine to consult with clinicians at other sites regarding patient diagnosis and/or treatment
• 10% of the hospitals transmit EKG tracings electronically to clinicians at other sites
  
• 40% of hospitals do NOT share clinical data with selected other departments within the hospital
• 40% of hospitals surveyed have physician offices or clinics connected electronically to the hospital's information system
• 20% have long-term care facilities connected electronically to the hospital's information system
• 20% of the hospitals share clinical data electronically with other hospital
  
  

Other HIT Activities

New York State Department of Health HIT
The Health Information Technology (HIT) initiative addresses the adoption of interoperable electronic health records for patients across medical settings and across geographic boundaries.

New York Health Information Security and Privacy Collaborative
The New York Health Information Security and Privacy Collaborative (NYHISPC) is facilitating a statewide dialogue about how to protect privacy and strengthen security of patients' health information in an electronic and interconnected health care delivery system.

New York State Office of Rural Health

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