Rural Spotlight

Revenue Cycle Management for RHC Leaders, 3-Part Series

January 27, 2025

Revenue Cycle Management for RHC Leaders, 3-Part Series

Join the Missouri Association of Rural Health Clinics (MARHC) for an exclusive three-part webinar series designed to empower RHC leaders with actionable strategies to optimize revenue cycle management.

Presented by industry experts from Wintergreen, this training will provide insights into enhancing financial performance, boosting operational efficiency, and improving patient satisfaction.

Why Attend?

Revenue cycle management is critical to the financial and operational success of Rural Health Clinics. This series provides practical tools and strategies tailored to the unique challenges of RHCs.

Cost:

  • Full Series (3 sessions):
    • MARHC Members: $100
    • Non-Members: $150
  • Single Session (A la Carte):
    • MARHC Members: $50
    • Non-Members: $75

Note: Recordings Available: All sessions will be recorded, and links will be sent to registered attendees. If you’re unable to attend live, register to receive the recording and benefit from this valuable training at you convenience.

When:

  • February 13, 2025: Revenue Cycle Strategy Management
  • May 29, 2025: Front-End Cycle Improvement
  • August 14, 2025: Back-End Revenue Cycle Improvement

Click Here to Register

NRHA Webinar: How to Secure Funding for Digital Health: Federal Grants and Telehealth for Rural Hospitals, January 29

January 22, 2025

NRHA Webinar: How to Secure Funding for Digital Health: Federal Grants and Telehealth for Rural Hospitals, January 29

Securing federal grants is critical for rural hospitals to implement and sustain telehealth programs. This session offers practical strategies to access funding and make telehealth a long-term solution for your community.

Angela Connor, a grant expert with a proven track record of helping rural hospitals secure millions in federal funding, will share actionable insights on navigating the complex grant process. Her work has directly supported hospitals in expanding telehealth programs and improving access to care in underserved communities.

Dr. Anisha Mathur, a telehealth leader with extensive experience working in critical access hospitals, will discuss how rural facilities can use virtual care to deliver high quality, specialty services while keeping patients local. Her real-world examples highlight what’s possible when funding aligns with a strong telehealth strategy.

Attendees will learn:

  • Which federal grants are available to rural hospitals right now,
  • Step-by-step guidance to create compelling applications that win funding,
  • Real-world examples of grant-funded telehealth programs that improve outcomes and sustain local care.

This session equips rural healthcare leaders with actionable tools to secure financial support and enhance care delivery for their communities.

Cost: Free

When: Wednesday, January 29, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. CT

Click Here to Register

How Private Equity Reduces Patient Care, Enriches Investors

January 22, 2025

How Private Equity Reduces Patient Care, Enriches Investors

A yearlong bipartisan congressional investigation into two private equity-backed hospital systems found that patient care deteriorated at both operations as their private equity owners reaped significant payouts on their investments in the systems.

Additionally, analysts expect to see hospitals recording modest gains in their operating margins over the coming year. They see encouraging signs with labor pressures easing a bit and improved volumes.

Click Here to Read More

New Funding Opportunity – Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program for Paraprofessionals, Apply by March 18

January 22, 2025

New Funding Opportunity – Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program for Paraprofessionals, Apply by March 18

The purpose of the Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training 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 program has a special focus on developing knowledge and understanding of the needs of children, adolescents, and transitional age youth who have experienced trauma and are at risk for behavioral health disorders including anxiety, depression, and substance use disorder.

Eligible applicants include:

  • Faith-based and community-based organizations
  • Hospitals
  • HRSA funded health centers and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs)
  • Public and private institutions of higher education
  • Rural health clinics
  • State, city, county, township, and special district governments
  • State-licensed mental health nonprofit and for-profit organizations
  • Tribal governments and tribal organizations

Please view the NOFO on Grants.gov for complete eligibility information.

Apply by March 18, 2025, 11:59 p.m. ET

Click Here to Learn More and Apply

New Funding Opportunity – HRSA Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (Rural MOMS) Program, Apply by April 22

January 22, 2025

New Funding Opportunity – HRSA Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (Rural MOMS) Program, Apply by April 22

The Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (Rural MOMS) Program from the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA’s) Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) is open and accepting applications for the program’s 4-year period of performance (September 30, 2025 – September 29, 2029).

Rural MOMS funds networks that establish or continue collaborative improvement and innovative models that can provide long-term sustainable and financially viable service delivery to improve maternal and infant health outcomes. The work of these networks supports the goal of the program to improve maternal and infant health outcomes and access to and delivery of maternity and obstetrics care in rural areas and reduce preventable maternal mortality risks and decrease severe maternal morbidity in rural areas.

A technical assistance webinar via Zoom is scheduled for applicants on Wednesday, February 12, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Click Here to see examples of previously funded projects under this program.

For more information about this funding opportunity, contact RMOMS@hrsa.gov.

Apply by April 22, 2025.

Click Here to learn more and apply

Upcoming Webinar: Bridging the Gap Between SDOH and Z Codes, January 28

January 21, 2025

Upcoming Webinar: Bridging the Gap Between SDOH and Z Codes, January 28

This virtual event will explain the importance of screening and identifying patients for social determinants/drivers of health and documentation in the electronic health record. The session will explain the coding process and requirements for ICD-10 categories for Social Drivers of Health (SDOH). This information is valuable for decision-making to improve patient-centered care and reduce health disparities.

Attendees will have an opportunity to learn how to leverage Health Equity Dashboards, giving a snapshot of the frequently identified Z Codes at the state, region, county and hospital levels.

Upon completion of this program, participants will be able to:

  • Improve patient-centered care and reduce health disparities through social determinants/drivers of health, and
  • Improve documentation in electronic health records.

Intended Audience

  • Directors of nursing,
  • Labor and delivery clinical staff,
  • Quality leaders,
  • Population health staff,
  • Chief nursing officers,
  • COOs,
  • Patient experience leaders, and
  • Patient and family advisory council members.

Cost: Free

When: Tuesday, January 28, 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Click Here to Register

Webinar – Firstline: Emerging Infectious Disease Threats – responding to an emerging infectious disease outbreak, January 22

January 21, 2025

Webinar – Firstline: Emerging Infectious Disease Threats – Responding to an emerging infectious disease outbreak, January 22

Don’t miss Firstline: Emerging Infectious Disease Threats, responding to an emerging infections disease outbreak, presented by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and the University of Missouri, scheduled for Wednesday, January 22 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Registration is free, but you must register.

Cost: Free

Click Here to Register

Notice of Funding Opportunity: HRSA Rural Program of All-Inclusive for the Elderly Planning and Development

January 21, 2025

Notice of Funding Opportunity: HRSA Rural Program of All-Inclusive for the Elderly Planning and Development

The Rural Program of All-Inclusive for the Elderly (PACE) Planning and Development grant is open and accepting applications for the program’s 4-year period of performance (September 30, 2025 – September 29, 2029). The purpose of this program is to improve health care in rural areas, including expanding access to medical care and long-term services, for rural aging populations by expanding PACE programs into rural areas.

Program Goals:

  • Provide start-up funding for organizations to develop a new PACE site serving the aging rural population.
  • Provide funding for organizations to expand existing PACE programs into rural areas through service area expansion.
  • Implement sustainable PACE programs that will effectively serve critical health care needs for rural aging populations.

This funding will support organizations to develop an initial PACE program or expand an existing PACE organization into rural areas.

HRSA will make up to 4 awards, up to $500,000 per year, to provide resources to assist with the development of an initial Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (DMS) PACE program serving HRSA-designated rural areas or to expand an existing certified CMS PACE programs into HRSA-designated rural areas through PACE service area expansion.

Eligible Applicants

  • Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
  • Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
  • For profit organizations other than small businesses
  • Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
  • Small businesses
  • Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with th IRS, other than institutions of higher education
  • Independent school districts
  • Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
  • Private institutions of higher education
  • City or township governments
  • County governments
  • State governments
  • Special district governments
  • State and county health departments,
  • Hospitals
  • FQHCs
  • Rural Health Clinics

Click Here to Learn More and Apply

For more information about this funding opportunity, contact RuralPACE@hrsa.gov

Register Now: Rural Health Workforce Development Conference, April 1-2

January 13, 2025

Register Now: Rural Health Workforce Development Conference, April 1-2

The Missouri Rural Health Association (MRHA), in partnership with University of Missouri School of Medicine and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), will host the Rural Health Workforce Development Conference Tuesday, April 1 through Wednesday, April 2, 2025 at the Holiday Inn Executive Center, Columbia, Missouri.

The Rural Health Workforce Development Conference is ideal for:

  • Health care practitioners,
  • Health care administrators,
  • Students,
  • HR professionals,
  • Non-profit organizations, and businesses with a vested interest in rural health care and attracting qualified professionals to serve rural communities.

Click Here to Learn More and Register

New Funding Available: Rural Residency Planning and Development Program, Apply by April 10, 2025

January 13, 2025

New Funding Available: Rural Residency Planning and Development Program, Apply by April 10, 2025

The Rural Residency Planning and Development (RRPD) Program, HRSA-25-007, is open and accepting applications for the program’s 3-year period of performance (August 1, 2025 – July 31, 2028). The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) will make up to 15 awards, each up to $750,000, to improve and expand access to health care in rural areas by developing new sustainable rural residency programs, including rural track programs (RTPs).

Eligible applicants include all domestic public and private, nonprofit or for-profit, entities. Applicants must propose a new rural residency program in a qualifying medical specialty.

Qualifying medical specialties are:

  • Family medicine
  • Internal medicine
  • Preventive medicine
  • Psychiatry
  • General surgery, and
  • Obstetrics and gynecology

For this notice of funding opportunity, rural residency programs are accredited physician residency programs, train residents in clinical training sites that are physically located in a rural area as defined by HRSA’s Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) for greater than 50 percent of their total time in residency and focus on producing physicians who will practice in rural communities.

Successful RRPD Program awardees will:

  1. Develop a new rural residency program that is accredited by Accreditation Council for Graduated Medical Education;
  2. Finalize a sustainability plan, which includes ongoing funding streams to sustain long-term resident training after program establishment; and
  3. Develop a plan to track and publicly report on resident career outcomes after graduation for at least 5 years after the first graduating class to assess retention in rural communities.

Click Here to Learn More

Click Here to attend a technical assistance webinar, via Zoom, on Wednesday, January 23, 2:00 p.m. ET

A list of previously funded grants under this program are available here.

Applicants may also benefit from the resources and tools in the RuralGME.org portal (registration required).

For questions about this funding opportunity email: ruralresidency@hrsa.gov.