Tribal communities often face significant challenges accessing healthcare due to their remote locations and limited IT infrastructure.
Improving internet connectivity in these communities opens the door to both virtual doctor visits and remote patient monitoring, but that costs money.
Fortunately, the Federal Communications Commission runs a program offering a 65% rebate on eligible broadband connectivity expenses for rural healthcare providers. Additionally, the Department of Agriculture’s Distance Learning and Telemedicine program helps fund telemedicine services in rural areas to increase access to healthcare resources that are otherwise limited or unavailable.
These public funding sources ensure that, while barriers to tribal IT infrastructure modernization exist, cost doesn’t always have to be one of them.
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How CDW and IHS Are Improving Tribal Healthcare Facilities
Though some tribal communities use the aforementioned programs, few take full advantage of these funding opportunities. For example, they may upgrade their circuits but not their network hardware and security firewalls — IT infrastructure covered by the same grants.
CDW’s recent work with the Indian Health Service aims to show tribal communities what is possible. IHS is making substantial investments in infrastructure improvements — including the construction of new facilities and upgrades to existing ones to improve access to care — and CDW is assisting with a ServiceNow implementation.
ServiceNow's IT asset management system streamlines control of resources to ensure critical healthcare technologies are operational and available. This reliability directly supports healthcare staff so they can deliver a better patient experience and improved outcomes.
The upgrades will deliver enhanced patient data protection through improved asset oversight and security protocols. With automated asset management and service desk activities, healthcare facilities will be able to refresh legacy tech in a timely fashion.
Leveraging Federal Funding to Boost Tribal IT Infrastructure
IHS’ efforts are a model for more tribal communities to emulate.
While some federal telemedicine grants are competitive, tribal communities receive priority, improving their opportunity to receive funding. For communities lacking network connections or those looking to maximize their existing connectivity, federal funding can help them deploy the supporting infrastructure and further enable remote patient care.
CDW’s federal healthcare team and public sector funding strategists can assist with finding the right programs to meet tribal communities’ needs, from basic connectivity and improved bandwidth to hardware and security enhancements. By tapping into the appropriate funding sources, tribal communities can seize this moment to improve their IT infrastructure and elevate the delivery of much-needed medical care.
This article is part of FedTech’s CapITal blog series.
