U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Rural Health Care Services Outreach Program

The Rural Health Care Services Outreach Program (Outreach Program) is a community-based grant program aimed towards promoting rural health care services by enhancing health care delivery in rural communities. Outreach projects focus on the improvement of access to services, strategies for adapting to changes in the health care environment, and overall enrichment of the respective community’s health. Through a consortia of local health care and social service providers, rural communities can develop innovative approaches to challenges related to their specific health needs. The program creates an opportunity to address the key clinical priorities of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: serious mental illness, substance abuse, and childhood obesity.

The overarching goals for the Outreach Program are to:

• Expand the delivery of health care services to include new and enhanced services exclusively in rural communities
• Deliver health care services through a strong consortium, in which every consortium member organization is actively involved and engaged in the planning and delivery of services
• Utilize and/or adapt an evidence-based or promising practice model(s) in the delivery of health care services
  Improve population health and demonstrate health outcomes and sustainability

Outreach projects are grounded in an evidence-based or promising practice model. Projects take the framework or methodology of an evidence-based or promising practice model and can tailor the model to effectively address the need of the community with respect to the organization’s capacity. Previously funded Outreach grant programs include projects focused on the full range of needs in rural communities from workforce, post-acute care services, long-term care services, emergency health care services, public health enhancement, and care coordination.

In addition to funding Outreach programs through the traditional Outreach track, the creation of the Outreach Program Health Improvement Special Project (HISP) is a new track that will focus on the utility of centralized metrics to describe cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk for a subset of individuals. Applicants can opt to apply for the HISP track and will report on measures regarding the enhancement of current and anticipated health outcomes related to cardiovascular disease risk. The overarching goal of the HISP is to demonstrate changes to cardiovascular risk as a result of the activities supported by the Outreach Program. HISP participants are encouraged to follow the same set of individuals throughout the 3-year project period.

Amount: A total of $5,000,000 is available to award up to 25 grants, ranging up to $200,000 per year.

Eligibility: Applicants must:

• Be rural public and nonprofit private entities, including faith-based and community organizations.
• Be in a consortium with at least two additional organizations. These two other organizations can be rural, urban, nonprofit, or for-profit. The consortium must include at least three or more health care providers. A consortium can also be a network, defined as a formal organizational arrangement among at least three separately owned health care providers or other entities that provide or support the delivery of health care services.
• Have not previously received an Outreach grant for the same or similar project unless the applicant is proposing to expand the scope of the project or the area that will be served through the project.
• Be located in a rural county or eligible rural census tract. To ascertain rural eligibility, refer to http://datawarehouse.hrsa.gov/RuralAdvisorRuralHealthAdvisor.aspx.

Link: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=295218

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