Success Stories
How we’ve helped our clients thrive$7M in tech training for rural health staff
The Project
The project: Rural healthcare organizations sometimes struggle to fill staff positions, particularly those trained in healthcare technology. In 2016, Binghamton University’s Decker College of Nursing sought to form the Rural Technology Education Consortium (R-TEC) to serve New York State’s Southern Tier by creating a sustained supply of tech-trained healthcare professionals to the region. Scale Technology Solutions helped the school build a grant funding proposal while also serving as a technology consultant. The school won multi-million-dollar, multi-year funding from an Advanced Nursing Education Workforce grant from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration.
The result:
To date, R-TEC has received more than $7 million in continued funding to support their program. As a result, more than 100 nurse practitioners have been placed in rural healthcare organizations, having received training in both primary care and telemedicine.
“Some companies make me feel like I’m getting a sales pitch. But ScaleTec is truly consultative—flexible, locally connected, and can get the program up and running.”
$5 million builds an industry leader in telehealth
The Project
When sparse populations occupy vast stretches of land, making it a challenge for residents to travel to healthcare providers. Finger Lakes Community Health (FLCH) based in Penn Yan, New York, was looking to help their patients access providers across a large five-county area more easily. And telehealth offered a solution. In 2007, they launched their telehealth program, and Scale Technology Solutions was there to help them make it happen. We provided FLCH with a needs assessment, helped them secure grant funding, and partnered on program development and management.
The result:
Through deft proposal writing, Scale Technology Solutions helped FLCH win more than $5 million in grants from the federal Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) Bureau of Primary Care and to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The telehealth program at FLCH has since evolved to become a nationally recognized model for telehealth services in a community health center setting. The organization has continued to win multiple rounds of grant funding from federal, state, and foundation sources, expanding their program into the Finger Lakes Telehealth Network to provide primary care, behavioral health, dental and administrative collaboration and learning services.
“It’s so important to ask the right questions of the right people to put all the pieces together for our projects ScaleTec does that. And they can work independently and also collaboratively.”
From a $6M award to $13M in savings
The Project
Broadband services are notoriously expensive for rural healthcare organizations. Scale Technology Solutions helped the Western New York Rural Broadband Healthcare Network (WNY-RBHN), a consortium of rural healthcare providers based in Warsaw, N.Y., to win a $6 million broadband subsidy award from the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) Rural Health Care Program (RHC).
The result:
The WNY-RBHN has since used that seed money to save their 170 member healthcare facilities more than $13 million in broadband expenses.
“Accessibility, communication, and response time are exceptional! ScaleTec is flexible and open to working anywhere!”
Ira Davenport Memorial Hospital
The Project
Ira Davenport Memorial Hospital (IDMH) in Bath, New York provides much-needed access to care in a rural six-county region. As a New York State-designated Vital Access Provider (VAP) facility, IDMH earmarks the annual VAP funding for a variety of programs and projects to improve the quality and access to care for the rural communities it serves. Our work with IDMH has included:
- Streamlining clinical operations to be awarded the New York State Stroke Center designation
- Upgrading the hospital facilities for better patient and family experience
- Implementing TeleCritical Care services in the IDMH ICU to address the immediate needs of critical care patients in the Emergency Department awaiting hospitalization
The result:
Since 2016, ScaleTec has worked closely with IDMH administration to effectively manage multiple rounds of VAP funding to deliver on programs improving access to quality care for the rural patient population.
ScaleTec also facilitated a partnership between Binghamton University and IDMH to utilize the university’s federal grants to procure equipment for the TeleCritical Care program in the IDMH Emergency Department
“For many years, Ira Davenport Memorial Hospital has been the beneficiary of ScaleTec’s expert guidance in healthcare technology. They have partnered with us on grant funding opportunities and been the program manager for many multi-year, complex Vital Access Provider grants. ScaleTec also sought out valuable community partnerships to implement programs at IDMH to advance healthcare access for underserved populations.”
The Food Bank of the Southern Tier
The Project
The Food Bank of the Southern Tier (FBST) delivers much-needed assistance in a six-county region in the Southern Tier covering nearly 4,000 square miles. In 2020, the Food Bank distributed more than 17.6 million pounds of food and grocery items through more than 155 partner agencies that includes food pantries, meal programs, shelters, after-school programs, and senior programs.
As part of renovating their offices, FBST was looking to upgrade five conference rooms into hybrid collaboration spaces. They were also looking to upgrade their end-user computer systems and office equipment. The funding for this portion of the project was provided by the NYS DOH Capital Restructuring Finance Program (CRFP).
The result:
ScaleTec put together a technical team to help FBST explore all different hybrid collaboration modalities and vendor platforms and decide which suited them best. ScaleTec also worked with the CRFP grant program team and FBST to ensure that the design and pricing of the equipment met the requirements and timelines of the grant. The information technology equipment on the order were staged in batches, in order not to bottleneck the delivery pipeline. All through this project, ScaleTec provided the FBST team with timely updates and managed last minute change requests.
“Scale Technology Solutions demonstrated professionalism, expertise, and a genuine commitment to meeting our needs from the initial consultation to the final implementation. They guided us through the selection process, providing valuable insights and recommendations to ensure we were investing in our organization’s technology solutions. Overall, working with ScaleTec has been a truly positive experience. We highly recommend ScaleTec to organizations seeking reliable and professional IT solutions. Thank you for partnering with us and for your continued support of our community initiatives.”
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