THRIVE - Telehealth, Health Monitoring, and Response Innovation for Vital Expansion (LIFELINE)

Summary

The THRIVE initiative, a core part of Arkansas’s Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP), funds projects to modernize rural healthcare delivery through telehealth access, EMS modernization, and remote patient monitoring. The LIFELINE sub-initiative specifically supports EMS tele-triage platforms, trauma and stroke response coordination, interoperable EMS communications, ambulance equipment with integrated technology, and tele-consultation networks. Funded projects must clearly align with at least one THRIVE program objective: expanding high-quality telehealth, reducing EMS and trauma response times, improving chronic disease or behavioral health outcomes, strengthening health IT security/interoperability, and supporting data-driven care. Eligible applicants include rural hospitals, EMS providers, clinics, behavioral health providers, clinically integrated networks (CINs), and nonprofit or public entities serving rural Arkansas. Schools and public health entities are not eligible for LIFELINE but may qualify under other THRIVE sub-initiatives. Projects must demonstrate a credible implementation plan, organization readiness, measurable outcomes, and compliance with CMS RHTP requirements (NOFO Sections II–IV).

Eligibility

Eligible applicants include rural hospitals, EMS providers, clinics, behavioral health providers, clinically integrated networks, and nonprofit or public entities serving rural Arkansas. Schools and public health entities are not eligible for the LIFELINE sub-initiative. For full definitions and eligibility for other THRIVE initiatives, see NOFO Section III.

Requirements Checklist