Rural Spotlight

Targeted Technical Assistance for Rural Hospitals Program (TTAP)

March 21, 2025

Targeted Technical Assistance for Rural Hospitals Program (TTAP)

The Targeted Technical Assistance for Rural Hospitals Program (TTAP) is a federally-funded initiative that offers comprehensive technical assistance to rural hospitals to address financial and operational challenges and maintain essential health services for their communities.

Targeted Technical Assistance Program Sequence:

  • Assess
    • Comprehensive financial and operational assessments
  • Plan
    • Evidence-based planning to identify & prioritize strategies for financial sustainability and growth
  • Implement
    • One-on-one tailored technical assistance with consultants and subject-matter experts
  • Monitor and Evaluate
    • Monitoring, evaluation, and modification of implemented strategy to ensure optimal outcomes

Click Here to Watch Introduction Webinar

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Rural Hospital Stabilization Program

March 21, 2025

Rural Hospital Stabilization Program

The Rural Hospital Stabilization Program (RHSP) is funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Federal Office of Rural Health Policy and administered by the National Rural Health Resource Center.

RHSP offers assistance to rural hospitals, at no cost to them to help them improve their financial stability by enhancing or expanding health care services that meet community needs. This may include everything from pulmonary rehabilitation to outpatient behavioral health services to expanded primary care and keep care close to home.

The Center’s subject matter experts and a team of nationally recognized consultants familiar with rural hospitals provide:

  • Comprehensive financial and operational assessments,
  • Education,
  • One-on-one coaching,
  • Peer-to-peer sharing, and
  • Other forms of customized assistance.

Hospitals participating in the cohort style program work to identify clinical areas where the expansion or addition of services would help to ensure that care is available locally, and develop those service lines to bolster patient volume, optimize service utilization and improve cash flow.

Hospitals that meet program expectations and are selected for participation may receive financial support for operating and equipment costs for service line development and a Community Engagement Champion.

Benefits of Participation:

  • Improve financial position and increase operational efficiencies
  • Enhance stability and sustain access to care,
  • Grow services to increase patient volume,
  • Align service to community needs,
  • Bolster revenue and reduce bypass,
  • Enhance community perception of the hospital.

Click on the links below to Learn more

HRSA National Health Service Corps/SAMHSA: Medications for Opioid Use Disorder Training

March 21, 2025

HRSA National Health Service Corps/SAMHSA: Medications for Opioid Use Disorder Training

The National Health Service Corps is partnering with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to increase the number of clinicians trained to prescribe buprenorphine, and other medications as part of a wholistic treatment plan for opioid use disorders in high-need communities.

SAMHSA’s Provider Clinical Support System-Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (PCSS-MOUD) offers the most effective, evidence-based clinical practices

  • preventing,
  • identifying,
  • and treating opioid-use disorder.

PCSS-MOUD provides free 8-hour MOUD training, year-round.

Are Your eligible for the training?

You are eligible for the free 8-hour MOUD Training if you have an active Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) number to dispense controlled substances and are one of the following:

  • Physician (Doctor of Medicine (MD) or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO),
  • Nurse practitioner (NP),
  • Physician assistant (PA),
  • Certified nurse midwives (CNM),
  • Certified registered nurse anesthetics (CRNA), or
  • Medical student
  • Medical students may complete the training but will not be eligible for a DEA number until they are fully licensed.

The training is eight hours and can be taken in-person or online. The training can also be split into more than one session.

I already completed X-waiver training:

  • If you have completed training for the DATA Waiver, also know as the X-waiver, you have satisfied this training requirement.
  • This training also satisfies the June 2023 mandate for health professionals who are registering or renewing a DEA license.
  • Visit the Drug Enforcement Agency’s Medication Assisted Treatment page to learn more about the training and how to obtain your DEA number

Click Here to Learn More

HRSA Needs Rural Reviewers for Grant Applications

March 21, 2025

HRSA Needs Rural Reviewers for Grant Applications

Are you an expert in certain subjects related to health care? If so, you may be able to help the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) review grant applications.

What is a grant application reviewer?

  • Professionals who use their health care knowledge and experience to evaluate grant applications.
    • Their feedback is part of HRSA’s process in deciding who receives grant awards.

Expectations:

  • Get trained on how to evaluate applications and use HRSA’s online portal – the Application Review Module (ARM),
  • Review applications using published evaluation criteria,
  • Provide scores and comments in the ARM, and
  • Discuss scores and evaluation with other reviewers on your panel.

How to Become a Grant Reviewer:

  • If you have experience in health care, register via HRSA’s Reviewer Recruitment Module (RRM).
  • HRSA is looking for people who are experts in these areas:
    • Behavioral health
    • Health workforce training
    • HIV/AIDS
    • Maternal and child health
    • Primary care delivery
    • Rural health
    • Health equity
  • HRSA also wants reviewers who have:
    • Lived experience, such as:
      • A member of an underserved community,
      • Having a disability or health condition.
    • Expertise in social determinants of health,
    • Experience working with underserved communities, and
    • Familiarity with social, cultural, or health care issues of people in rural areas, migrants, or Native Americans.

Does a grant reviewer get paid?

  • HRSA compensates nonfederal reviewers

Click Here to Learn More

Click Here to Access HRSA’s Reviewer Recruitment Module (RRM)

Informational Webinar on NASHP Maternity Care Deserts Policy Academy, March 25

March 21, 2025

Informational Webinar on NASHP Maternity Care Deserts Policy Academy, March 25

With support from the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA’s) Maternal and Child Health Bureau, the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) will provide an overview and answer questions about the NASHP policy academy, Advancing State Strategies to Address Maternity Care Deserts.

Teams of state health officials

  • public health,
  • Medicaid,
  • behavioral health,
  • provider groups, and
  • others

will receive technical assistance to support and advance innovative state-level policy initiatives that address the growth of maternity care deserts and improve access to maternal and child health care.

Click Here to Learn More

Click Here to Register for Webinar

Medicare Shared Savings Program Application Due Dates Released

March 21, 2025

Medicare Shared Savings Program Application Due Dates Released

Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) that want to begin participating in the Medicare Shared Saving Program starting January 1, 2026, must apply between May 29 and June 12 at noon Eastern.

The Shared Savings Program is a voluntary program that encourages groups of doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers to come together as an ACO to give coordinated, high-quality care to Medicare beneficiaries.

After submitting an application, new ACOs that serve rural areas may be eligible for Advanced Investment Payments, upfront funds to build infrastructure and address beneficiary needs.

Click Here to Learn More About Medicare Shared Saving Program

Click Here to Learn More about the Advanced Investment Payments

CMS Innovation Center Ending Four Models Early

March 21, 2025

CMS Innovation Center Ending Four Models Early

Last week the Innovation Center at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (also known as CMMI) announced they are terminating four models early to align with its statutory obligation and strategic goals.

Innovation Center Models are intended to be time-limited experiments to determine what approaches should be:

  • expanded nationwide,
  • what components need further testing, and
  • what approaches are not viable for expansion.

The models are ending early are:

Termination of the ETC model will be proposed through rulemaking. Subject to discussions with State authorities, Maryland will transition to the AHEAD model and begin its implementation period in January 2026.

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CMS Proposes Updates to ACA Marketplace Rules, Comment by April 11

March 21, 2025

CMS Proposes Updates to ACA Marketplace Rules, Comment by April 11

Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released for public inspection the Marketplace Integrity and Affordability Proposed Rule, which proposes additional safeguards meant to protect consumers from improper enrollments and changes to their health care coverage, as well as to establish standards that aim to ensure the integrity of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplaces. It was formally published on Wednesday, March 19, with comments due April 11.

Click Here to Read More and Comment

Application Deadline Extended: HRSA Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program for Paraprofessionals, Now Apply by April 1

March 21, 2025

Application Deadline Extended: HRSA Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program for Paraprofessionals, Now Apply by April 1

The purpose of the Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training (BHWET) Program for Paraprofessionals, HRSA-25-066 is to develop and expand community-based experiential training such as field placements and internships to increase the skills, knowledge and capacity of students preparing to become mental health workers, peer support specialists, and other behavioral health paraprofessionals.

The funding will go to community-based organizations, including Rural Health Clinics, for training that prepares students to become mental health workers, peer support specialists, and other behavioral health-related paraprofessionals.

The Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA’s) Bureau of Health Workforce will award approximately $10.9 million to up to 29 awardees over a period of four years.

The original deadline of March 18 has been extended to April 1.

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CDC Updates Urban-Rural Classification for Counties

March 21, 2025

CDC Updates Urban-Rural Classification for Counties

Last week, the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the new NCHS Urban-Rural Classification Scheme for Counties.

For this update, the NCHS used delineations of metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas from the Office of Management and Budget as well as estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau to classify counties and county equivalents into six categories – four metropolitan and two nonmetropolitan.

This scheme allows researchers, policy makers, and others to study the health of U.S. residents according to how urban or rural their county is.

Click Here to Learn More

Click Here to Read More about how FORHP uses several federal data sources to define for rural for programs.