Maine Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP)Technology and Innovation Strategies

The Maine Rural Health Transformation Program is a multiyear effort to modernize how care is delivered, accessed, and coordinated across the state's rural communities. MCD Global Health is leading the Innovation and Technology pillar—bringing tested digital health tools, augmented intelligence (AI), and electronic health record modernization to clinicians, schools, skilled nursing facilities, and the people they serve.

When a child in Aroostook can see a specialist without a four-hour drive, a nurse in Washington County has the same diagnostic tools as one in Portland, an aging parent in Hancock can stay home longer because their care team can monitor what matters — that is what rural health transformation looks like. Practical, local, and measured by outcomes, not platforms.

In 2025, Maine was awarded $190 million from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to implement Year 1 of the Rural Health Transformation Program. MCD Global Health was selected to lead digital health, AI, and digital infrastructure activities under the Technology and Innovation Initiative.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) established the Rural Health Transformation Program to help states design and implement bold strategies for strengthening rural healthcare delivery. Maine's application, built in partnership across state government, providers, and community-based organizations, was selected for its emphasis on workforce, infrastructure, and innovation.

MCD Global Health, headquartered in Maine and with decades of public health experience here and around the world, brings the technical expertise, partner relationships, and implementation track record to translate funding into measurable change for rural Mainers.

Our role: convene the partners, run the procurement, support implementation at participating sites, and evaluate what works, so what gets built lasts beyond the grant period.