HHS, USDA Align to Reach Rural Areas with Health IT

The Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture have signed a memorandum of understanding linking rural hospitals and clinicians to capital loan programs to help them purchase software and hardware needed to implement health IT.

On Aug. 16, the White House publicly announced the Administration's commitment to this agreement. HHS' Rural Health Information Technology Task Force, has been working with the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to ensure that rural healthcare providers can use USDA's Rural Development grants and loans to support the acquisition of health IT.