Research Alert: April 27, 2020

Measure and Data Element Identification for the HRSA Evidence-Based Tele-Behavioral Health Network Program and the HRSA Substance Abuse Treatment Telehealth Network Grant Program

To address the many challenges in treating behavioral health in rural areas, the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) in the Health Resources and Services Administration established the Evidence-Based Tele-Behavioral Health Network Program in 2018, funding 14 grantees, and the Substance Abuse Treatment Telehealth Network Grant Program in 2017, funding 3 grantees. Concurrently, the Rural Telehealth Research Center worked cooperatively with FORHP to establish data collection protocols and tools on a set of measures that could be used for a cross-grantee evaluation of behavioral health services during their funding periods. This brief details multi-project work to identify the standardized set of measures appropriate to behavioral health, create an Excel-based tool, and begin to systematically collect data from the grantees.

Additional Resources of Interest:

• Identifying Measures and Data Elements for the HRSA Evidence-Based Tele-Emergency Network Grant Program
• More information about the Rural Telehealth Research Center
• More information from the Rural Health Information Hub's topic guides: Conducting Research, Needs Assessments, and Evaluations, Healthcare Access, Mental Health, Substance Use and Misuse