This notice announces the opportunity to apply for funding under the Rural Health Clinic Technical Assistance Program. The purpose of this program is to:
• Identify key policy issues and knowledge gaps among RHCs about topics including regulatory and program compliance, billing and reimbursement, quality improvement, best practices around disease management and care coordination, and RHC policy priorities;
• Identify tools, resources and strategies to address policy issues, knowledge gaps and other challenges faced by RHCs; and
• Inform RHCs and other rural stakeholders about key RHC issues that affect, or have the potential to affect, care delivery.
The health care delivery system is evolving, with an emphasis on finding new approaches to improve health outcomes, control costs, and improve population health. Financial incentives are moving from volume-based to value-based services, with a focus on quality of care in all settings and improving transitions of care as patients move between care settings. Within this environment, RHCs provide care to millions of rural residents, often serving as the sole health care provider in a community, and serving as the de facto safety net for rural residents.1,2,3 Many RHCs are small organizations with limited resources. These RHCs require support to effectively participate in the changing health care environment and to prepare for related policy and regulatory changes.
The Rural Health Clinic Technical Assistance Program provides technical assistance (TA) including tools, resources, and strategies that are easily accessible to geographically dispersed RHCs and could be used to inform rural health care providers and other federal, state, and local stakeholders. The TA may also include topics related to public health priorities such as ending the opioid epidemic and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
