North Carolina needs your insight to shape the future of rural health innovation and digital health modernization. The Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Information Technology and other partners are designing a statewide approach to strengthen rural care delivery through improved data connectivity, modern digital‑health infrastructure, telehealth expansion, interoperability upgrades and adoption of advanced tools like AI‑supported workflows. Your feedback will directly influence the tools, resources and support offered to help practices improve connectivity, upgrade technology and adopt new innovations.

• Who should participate: Practices based in rural areas or serving predominantly rural patient populations.
• Time commitment: About five minutes.
• Take the survey online today!

For more information, contact NACDS’ Jermaine Smith at 703–837–4388.

The Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) has released several updates on its Rural Health Transformation Program (NCRHTP), including the NCRHTP June Webinar Recap of its stakeholder webinar highlighting progress across the five NC ROOTS Hub Leads organizations. In addition, NCDHHS has announced a new funding opportunity for the NC Minority Diabetes Prevention Program. Interested applicants are encouraged to review the Request for Applicants documents, addendums for eligibility criteria and additional details available on the NCRHTP Grant Opportunities webpage. The deadline to apply is July 17 at 5:00 pm EST.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Jermaine Smith at 703–837–4388.

The Department of Health and Human Services continues to implement its Rural Health Transformation Program by finalizing contracts with the five regional NC Hub Leads, who will conduct regional needs assessments and establish local partner networks serving all 100 counties. Additional engagement opportunities for rural pharmacies and other health care providers are expected soon. Members are encouraged to subscribe to the RHTP newsletter to receive updates on future solicitations and participation opportunities.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Jermaine Smith at 703–837–4388.

The Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) announced Maggie Woods as the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) Director to lead the state's effort in transforming health care and access for more than 3.5 million rural North Carolinians.  

Also in North Carolina, the NCDHHS presented before the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services Meeting on April 7, outlining plans for the $213 million from the Rural Health Care Transformation Grants from the federal government.  

For more information, contact NACDS’ Jermaine Smith at 703–837–4388.

The Department of Health and Human Services is accepting applications from qualified organizations to serve as ROOTS Hub Leads for the North Carolina Rural Health Transformation Program. ROOTS Hubs are regional, locally governed networks that coordinate care and implement initiatives to improve rural health across primary care, behavioral health, workforce development, value‑based payment and digital health. Up to six organizations will be selected to represent the six North Carolina Medicaid regions. Applicants must demonstrate the capacity to serve as the regional programmatic and fiduciary lead. Interested applicants are encouraged to review the Request for Applicants documents for eligibility criteria and additional details as well as the ROOTS Hub Leads RFA webinar. Applications must be submitted by 5:00 pm on April 2. 

The NC Rural Health Transformation Program (NCRHTP) Frequently Asked Questions, details related to the NC ROOTS Hub Lead Request for Applications (RFA), and additional NCRHTP resources are available on the Rural Health Transformation Program webpage. Please continue to check this page for upcoming information, updates and resources. 

For more information, contact NACDS’ Jermaine Smith at 703–837–4388.