Practice Support Mini-Grant Program

Telehealth Mini-Grant Project

Greensboro AHEC Practice Support & State Employees Credit Union Telehealth Project Mini-Grant Program Details


With an aim to support practices in providing telemedicine services, improve the health status of patients, and prepare for the post-COVID realities of using technology inpatient care, the Greensboro AHEC Practice Support Team has created a unique project for selected providers within the 7-county catchment area. Funded through a partnership with the State Employees Credit Union (SECU), we invite practice leaders in the area to submit a proposal to participate.

Accepted proposals are eligible for up to:

  • $10,000 dollars to fund the project (see details below)
  • 10 hours of practice support coaching (to help with measure selection, data collection, implementation of new workflows, and other quality improvement support)

SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION BY AUG. 7, 2020
(via SurveyMonkey)

Proposal eligibility guidelines:

  • The project proposes to utilize telemedicine to promote positive health outcomes in North Carolina
  • Facilitated by an MD, DO, NP, PA, or Nurse Midwife working at ambulatory primary care or specialty clinic in the Greensboro AHEC seven-county region (Alamance, Caswell, Chatham, Guilford, Orange, Randolph, and Rockingham)
  • The project follows the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s Plan, Do, Study, Act process. Especially these steps:
  • Requested funds to be expended by December 1, 2020 (project completion deadline is December 1, 2021).
    • Eligible budget items include telemedicine equipment, in-home monitoring devices, electronic health record modules, broadband expenses, computer hardware, and peripherals.
    • Ineligible budget items include food and personnel expenses.
    • Maximum budget amount of $10,000.

Submission Criteria:

  • Project description, including target population (250-word max)
  • How the award will use telemedicine and/or remote patient monitoring to improve health (500-word max)
  • How the impact of the award will be measured and reported (250-word max)
  • Details about how the requested funds will be spent and a justification of the expenses (250-word max)
  • Projected timeline for use of the funds (250-word max)
  • Applicant resume, CV, or bio sketch of applying provider (total 2-page max)


Project Deliverable:

Project funding is designed to assist regional providers in conducting a Quality Improvement (QI) project to explore telemedicine pathways for patient care. In exchange for funding the QI project, Greensboro AHEC requests a one-page, standard A3 format summary of the project, including lessons learned, by December 1, 2020. A follow-up survey will be sent on July 1, 2021, to evaluate the sustainability of the project.

Selection Process:

Up to ten projects will be selected. Submissions will be blinded and individually scored by members of the project selection team.

  • Scoring criteria includes:
    • The quality of the proposal and potential for further project development
    • Feasibility to improve the health of target group
    • Appropriateness of budget and project period request

  • All submissions are required by Aug. 7. Applicants will be notified of the decision on Aug. 12.
  • Contact suzanne.lineberry@conehealth.com with any questions.

Ideas for telemedicine projects may be found at the Mid-Atlantic Telehealth Resource Center.

See below for further examples and evidence of telehealth implementation:

Bonini, M., & Usmani, O. S. (2018). Novel methods for device and adherence monitoring in asthma. Current Opinion in Pulmonary
Medicine, 24(1), 63–69. https://doi.org/10.1097/mcp.0000000000000439

Glassgow, A. E., Martin, M. A., Caskey, R., Bansa, M., Gerges, M., Johnson, M., Voorhees, B. V. (2017). An innovative health-care
delivery model for children with medical complexity. Journal of Child Health Care, 21(3), 263–272.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1367493517712063

Hoppe, K. K., Williams, M., Thomas, N., Zella, J. B., Drewry, A., Kim, K., Johnson, H. M. (2019). Telehealth with remote blood pressure
monitoring for postpartum hypertension: A prospective single-cohort feasibility study. Pregnancy Hypertension, 15, 171–176.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.preghy.2018.12.007

Pradeepa, R., Rajalakshmi, R., & Mohan, V. (2019). Use of Telemedicine Technologies in Diabetes Prevention and Control in
Resource-Constrained Settings: Lessons Learned from Emerging Economies. Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics, 21(S2),
S29–S216. https://doi.org/10.1089/dia.2019.0038

Xu, T., Pujara, S., Sutton, S., & Rhee, M. (2018). Telemedicine in the Management of Type 1 Diabetes. Preventing Chronic Disease,
15(E13). https://doi.org/10.5888/pcd15.170168

Yatabe, M. S., Yatabe, J., Asayama, K., Staessen, J. A., Mujaj, B., Thijs, L., Ichihara, A. (2017). The rationale and design of reduction of
uncontrolled hypertension by Remote Monitoring and Telemedicine (REMOTE) study. Blood Pressure, 27(2), 99–105.
https://doi.org/10.1080/08037051.2017.1406306