Rural Spotlight

New Funding Opportunity: FY 25 Delta Health Systems Implementation Program (DSIP), Apply by March 20

December 31, 2024

New Funding Opportunity: FY 25 Delta Health Systems Implementation Program (DSIP), Apply by March 20

The Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA’s) Federal Office of Rural Health Policy’s (FORHP’s) Delta Health System’s Implementation Program (DSIP) funding opportunity for FY25 is open and accepting applications – HRSA-25-032 for the program’s two-year period of performance (September 1, 2025-August 31, 2027).

HRSA expects to award five rural healthcare organizations, up to $400,000 each, to enhance healthcare delivery in rural areas by implementing projects that will improve financial sustainability and increase access to care.

Eligible applicants include:

  • Critical access hospitals
  • Small rural hospitals
  • Rural health clinics
  • Tribal healthcare facilities, and
  • other healthcare organizations located in a rural county or parish in the Delta region.

Applicants must propose projects based on recommendations received from previous technical assistance (TA) provided through the Delta Region Community Health Systems Development Program or another similar TA program within the last five years.

Examples of implementation projects include, but are not limited to:

  • Financial and Operational:
    • Developing new service lines,
    • Increasing inpatient and swing bed volume,
    • Increasing outpatient services,
    • Implementing revenue cycle best practices to increase point of service collections, and
    • Optimizing emergency department operations.
  • Quality:
    • Reducing readmissions,
    • Improving transitions of care and discharge planning,
    • Implementing performance measurement systems,
    • Clinical documentation integrity training, and
    • Utilizing data analytics.
  • Telehealth:
    • Expanding telehealth services and enhancing cybersecurity.
  • Workforce:
    • Recruitment initiatives,
    • Implementing new technology to increase clinical efficiency,
    • Simulation training for clinicians, and
    • Leadership training such as rounding to improve patient and employee satisfaction.

Applications Due by March 20, 2025

A technical assistance webinar via Zoom will be held for applicants on Wednesday, January 8, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern.

Interested applicants should start registrations in grants.gov and sam.gov ASAP.

Click Here to See Full Details

For more information about this funding opportunity, contact the Program Coordinator, Suzanne Snyder, at RuralHospitals@hrsa.gov.

 

Webinar Recording Available for Viewing: Addressing the Intersection of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and Substance Use in Maternal Health Care

December 31, 2024

Webinar Recording Available for Viewing: Addressing the Intersection of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and Substance Use in Maternal Health Care

View the recorded webinar to learn about the National Strategy to Improve Maternal Mental Health Care, as well as the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Health and Human Services (HHS) Office on Women’s Health (OWH) initiatives that are integrating prevention and care for IPV, substance use, and maternal health.

This webinar featured speakers from HRSA’s Maternal and Child Health Bureaus and HHS OWH.

Click Here to View Recorded Webinar

FCCC Cervical Cancer Patient Engagement Toolkit

December 31, 2024

FCCC Cervical Cancer Patient Engagement Toolkit

Download this new toolkit, developed by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Federal Cervical Cancer Collaborative (FCCC), the new toolkit, Improving Patient Engagement in Cervical Cancer Prevention (available in English and Spanish). The FCCC develops resources to advance equitable cervical cancer prevention, screening, and management in safety-net settings.

This toolkit helps providers improve equitable cervical cancer prevention, screening, and management. In this toolkit, “providers” means all people involved in cervical cancer care. This includes anyone who interacts with patients or supports patient care.

The toolkit has four sections:

  • Introduction: overview, importance of patient engage3ment, and the role of health centers.
  • Patient Engagement Materials: these items include a social media calendar, screening by age poster, live read script, text message library, LGBTQIA+ poster, and cervical screening follow-up card.
  • Community Partner Guide: Browse suggestions on how to work with partners in your community.
  • Additional Resources: Help your patients understand HPV infection, screening, and test results.

Click Here to Learn More and Download the Toolkit

HRSA Funding Opportunity: Graduate Psychology Education Program – HRSA-25-067, Apply by January 21

December 31, 2024

HRSA Funding Opportunity: Graduate Psychology Education Program – HRSA-25-067, Apply by January 21

The Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA’s) Bureau of Health Workforce (BHW), Division of Nursing and Public Health is accepting applications for the Graduate Psychology Education Program – HRSA-25-067.

The purpose of this program is to train doctoral health service psychology students, interns, and postdoctoral residents in integrated, interdisciplinary behavioral health, with significant focus on trauma-informed care and substance use disorder prevention and treatment services.

The program will prepare trainees for practice in community-based primary care settings in high need and high demand areas. To support trainees, the program will also focus on developing health service psychology faculty.

Who Can Apply:

  • Public and private institutions of higher education,
  • HRSA-funded health centers, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and rural health clinics,
  • State, county, city, township, and special district governments,
  • Nonprofits with or without a 501(c)(3) IRS status,
  • Native American tribal governments and organizations

**Individuals are not eligible to apply**

Please Note: Training programs of either the applicant or a partner organization must be accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency approved for such purposes by the U.S. Department of Education.

Award Information

  • Awardees may receive up to $450,000 per year for three years,
  • The three-year period of performance is July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2028,
  • $22.8 million is available annually for approximately 50 awards.

Apply by January 21, 2025

Click Here to Learn More and Apply

HRSA Funding Opportunity: Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program for Professionals (BHWET-Pro) – HRSA-25-068

December 31, 2024

HRSA Funding Opportunity: Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program for Professionals (BHWET-Pro) – HRSA-25-068

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is accepting applications for the Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program for Professionals (BHWET-Pro) – HRSA-25-068. This program will help address the behavioral health needs of children, adolescents, and young adults in high need and high demand areas.

The goal of the program is to increase the supply of behavioral health professionals and improve the distribution of a well-trained workforce, with a specific focus on understanding the needs of children, adolescents, and young adults at risk for mental health, trauma, and behavioral health disorders.

Awardees will:

  • Increase the number of new or expanded community partnerships with training sites in high-need and high-demand areas,
  • Promote collaborative training by using team-based models of care to integrate behavioral health care into interprofessional primary care settings,
  • Recruit a diverse workforce interested in working with children, adolescents, and young adults, and
  • Recruit, develop, and expand the capacity to train clinical supervisors to support and mentor behavioral health trainees.

Award Information:

  • May receive up to $600,000 per year for four years
  • A four-year period of performance: July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2029
  • $59.6 million is available annually for approximately 100 awards

Who Can Apply:

Eligible programs include accredited:

  • Professional training programs in certain mental health disciplines,
  • Doctoral, internship, and post-doctoral residency programs of health service psychology,
  • Master’s and doctoral degree programs of social work

 

Eligible organizations include:

  • Public and private institutions of higher education,
  • HRSA-funded health centers, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and rural health clinics,
  • State, county, city, township, and special district governments,
  • Nonprofits with or without a 501(c)(3) IRS status,
  • Native American tribal governments and organizations.

Individuals are not eligible to apply.

Click Here to Learn More and Apply

New Patient Engagement Toolkit from HRSA’s Federal Cervical Cancer Collaborative (FCCC)

December 20, 2024

New Patient Engagement Toolkit from HRSA’s Federal Cervical Cancer Collaborative (FCCC)

In 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported higher rates of cervical cancer for rural residents than urban. The Federal Cervical Cancer Collaborative (FCCC) is a multi-year federal partnership that bridges the federal priorities of cancer research and health care delivery in safety net settings of care. This resource is a companion to the Toolkit to Build Provider Capacity, publicly available on the FCCC resources page.

The toolkit supports efforts to increase patient and community engagement in prevention, screening, and management of a cancer that is highly treatable if found early.

Materials include social media posts, posters, a cervical screening follow-up card, and more and are available in both English and Spanish.

Click Here to Access the Toolkit

Feature Article: How Federal Funding Helped Build a Rural Cancer Care Network

December 20, 2024

Feature Article: How Federal Funding Helped Build a Rural Cancer Care Network

This feature article in The Rural Monitor describes how an urban nonprofit organization collaborated with a regional health care system and a rural physician’s office to create a network that brings comprehensive cancer care to residents in rural Georgia.

The Southeastern Rural Cancer Care Network used federal funds administered by FORHP’s Community Based Division through the Rural Health Care Coordination Program.

Click Here to Read Article

Upcoming Webinar: 2025 Physician Fee Schedule – Registration Required, January 30

December 20, 2024

Upcoming Webinar: 2025 Physician Fee Schedule – Registration Required, January 30

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently updated the Physician fee Schedule (PFS) for 2025 through the Calendar Year 2025 PFS Final Rule.

CMS subject matter experts will discuss and highlight policy updates on:

  • General care management,
  • Advanced Primary Care Management (APCM),
  • Telehealth,
  • Rural Health Clinic (RHC),
  • Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) policy updates,
  • Behavioral health,
  • Dental services, and more.

There is no fee to attend but registration is required.

Cost: Free

When: Thursday, January 30, 1:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

Upcoming Webinar – Expand GME Training at Your Hospital: How to Apply for Section 126 and 4122, January 16

December 20, 2024

Upcoming Webinar – Expand GME Training at Your Hospital: How to Apply for Section 126 and 4122, January 16

In this one-hour webinar, hosted by RuralGME.org, the FORHP-supported organization that helps hospitals plan and develop rural residencies, will provide background information on Section 126 and 4122 with a focus on considerations for rural hospitals.

Federal legislation under Section 126 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, and Section 4122 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, authorizes the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to distribute additional residency positions (also known as slots) for physician training in underserved areas.

Eligible hospitals must use MEARIS, CMS’s online application system to apply by March 31 for 200 newly available Section 126 slots and the 200 Section 4122 slots.

Cost: Free

When: Thursday, January 16, 12:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

Medicare Advantage Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) Model to End after Calendar Year 2025

December 20, 2024

Medicare Advantage Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) Model to End after Calendar Year 2025

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the Medicare Advantage (MA) Value-Based Insurance Design Model (VBID) is ending on December 31, 2025.

CMS is ending the model due to negative financial performance. Through the model, participating MA plans have had greater flexibility in serving high needs and underserved beneficiaries, and many of the lessons learned from the model have been incorporated into the MA program as a whole. Upon the model’s end, some beneficiaries in VBID MA plans may need to select a new MA plan or go back to traditional Medicare in 2026.

Click Here to Learn More