The NC HIEA is partnering with the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services as a key stakeholder in North Carolina’s implementation of the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP). The national program, established under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, awards states funding to further initiatives that will improve healthcare access, quality and outcomes in rural communities. North Carolina was awarded $213 million for the first year of its Rural Health Transformation Program.
The strategic goals of RHTP are:
Make rural America healthy again
Sustainable access
Workforce development
Innovative care
Tech innovation
To create innovative solutions for the unique challenges faced by rural health care providers, the NC HIEA will focus on technology specific goals, including:
Improving rural provider HIE connectivity
Increasing rural provider usage of AI clinical decision support tools
Increasing rural provider capacity for emerging technologies
Improving rural resident engagement
The NC HIEA will be working on building technical capacity and infrastructure in identified rural communities, including integrations between rural providers’ Electronic Health Record systems and NC HealthConnex.
A key focus will be furthering rural providers’ utilization of NC HIEA services by creating tailored training materials and offering hands-on technical assistance aimed specifically at the unique needs of rural providers and their EHRs.
The funding provided by the RHTP will accelerate the ability of rural providers to connect their EHR to NC HealthConnex and their ability to use tools such as the NC HealthConnex Clinical Portal by supporting the cost of technical integrations, training and technical assistance for certain rural providers with one-time integration and adoption costs.
The NC HIEA will implement at least 172 integrations with rural providers the end of September 2027. These connections will be prioritized based upon their impact on population health and their place in the NC HIEA’s connection queue.
The NC HIEA will coordinate closely with NCDHHS to engage with rural providers in early program planning activities, including putting in place the necessary governance, staffing and stakeholder coordination.
More information, including program points of contact, FAQs and information for NC HIEA participants identified for prioritization under the RHTP, is expected to be shared in April 2026.
