Sept. 19, 2025
Researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine recently received nearly $4 million from the Health Resources and Service Administration to establish a center dedicated to improving rural telehealth care.
More than 20% of the United States population – including 30% of Missourians – live in rural areas and face significant challenges to accessing health care. These communities typically have higher mortality rates and limited specialty care, and many of their closest hospitals are at risk of closure.
While the growth of telehealth services has helped, lead researcher Mirna Becevic believes there’s more work to be done.
“This grant will focus on setting up a center that will concentrate on gathering information and data about how telehealth is currently being used in rural communities and what gaps in care exist,” said Becevic, who will direct the center. “This knowledge will be used to recommend policies that will have an actual, actionable impact on patient lives.”
Researchers at the new Center for Telehealth Research and Policy (C-TRaP) will study how to improve care by using tools like artificial intelligence, remote patient monitoring, Medicaid data, and Project ECHO, which helps connect local doctors with specialists for consultation on specific cases, diseases or conditions. Research work began Sept. 1.
The center will be a collaborative effort across Mizzou and beyond. The Sinclair School of Nursing, along with the College of Health Professions and the College of Engineering, will bring their expertise in turning research into real-world clinical practice, as well as their experience with machine learning and Medicaid data.
To ensure the findings are generalizable to other rural areas, researchers will also work with colleagues at the University of Mississippi Medical Center – Center of Excellence in Telehealth and Michigan State University, who have done extensive research on virtual continuing education models.
“Our goal is to improve the lives of people living in rural communities. With a team of Mizzou experts and our resources from our Show Me ECHO and Missouri Telehealth Network programs, we can gather research that will help make that goal a reality,” Becevic said.
Mirna Becevic, PhD is an associate professor and director of telehealth research at the Mizzou School of Medicine. Her research focuses on the role of virtual care in improving patient outcomes. The HRSA grant will award $3.9 million over five years.
