Happy Holidays

What a year this has been! While most of us probably can’t wait to say good-bye to 2020, one of the good things that has come from the COVID-19 pandemic is the policy changes for telehealth and the ubiquitous acceptance of it from providers all over the world. Here in the United States, the National Consortium of Telehealth Resource Centers (NCTRCs) were here to have your back. Our origins began in 2006, with the inception of the Health Resources Services Administration’s Telehealth Resource Center Program, which is funded out of the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth and the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy.

As a Regional Telehealth Resource Center (RTRC), the Upper Midwest Telehealth Resource Center (UMTRC) has been around since late 2010. The UMTRC, along with the other 11 RTRCs, and the 2 National Telehealth Resource Centers (NTRCs), make up the NCTRC. The NCTRC host our national website where you find links to all 14 of our individual websites, register for webinars, and subscribe to the newsletter. The NCTRC helped with the U.S. Health and Human Services – Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (HHS – ASPR) Telemedicine Hack over the summer, a series of didactic presentations to bring providers up to speed on telehealth protocols. The NCTRC has taken up the reins from the Hack, and is now hosting multiple webinar series which can be found here.

As we wind down the year, the NCTRC has created a new video to showcase who we are and what we do. The staff of the UMTRC hope you enjoy this short video that exemplifies the vast resources of the NCTRC.

Happy Holidays!
Becky Sanders
UMTRC Program Director