State Offices of Rural Health Grant Program (SORH)

The goal of the State Offices of Rural Health (SORH) grant program is to assist States in strengthening rural health care delivery systems by creating a focal point for rural health within each State. The program provides an institutional framework that links small rural communities with State and Federal resources to help develop long term solutions to rural health problems. The SORH grant program features a single grantee from each of the 50 United States. The program is a Federal-State partnership that requires a State funding match of $3 for each $1 of Federal funding.
SORH Award Amount (FY06): $146,400

SORH Award Amount (FY06): $146,400

Major Accomplishments in FY 2007 (October 1, 2006 – September 30, 2007):

SORH Contact Information:
Office: Office of Rural Health
Address: 2 North Meridian Indianapolis, IN 46204
Phone: (317) 233-7404
Director: Ann Alley

1) Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Grant Program (Flex)

The Flex Program helps sustain access to high quality health care services in rural America. It facilitates the development and support of community-based collaborative rural delivery systems in all grantee States through conversion of hospitals to critical access status, development of rural healthcare networks and integration of EMS.
Flex Award (FY06): $583,464

Program Highlights:

• Number of Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) supported: 32
• Number of Critical Access-eligible Hospitals supported N/A
• Number of Rural Health Networks developed: 4
• Number of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) assisted: See Below
• Number of Rural Communities assisted: _____

Major Accomplishments:

-The Indiana Rural Health Association (IRHA) was the recipient of a Small Hospital Improvement (SHIP) grant and FLEX Grant awards from the Indiana State Office of Rural Health (InSORH) through the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) to plan, market, and execute the IRHA Heart Failure (HF) Project with Indiana’s Critical Access Hospitals in 2006 - 2007.

Within the first year of implementation the Pilot and Group 2 Projects, all 12 participating Indiana CAHs, received AHA’s “Participating Hospital Award.” To receive this award, each participating CAH must implement heart failure protocols, have a multidisciplinary team in place, and enter their baseline charts into the GWTG-HF patient management tool provided by Outcome, Inc. Among hospitals and AHA, these are recognized as prestigious awards. In addition, Tipton Hospital received the AHA “Initial Performance Achievement Award” and the “Annual Performance Achievement Award.” Criteria to receive this award is that the hospital is a “Participating Hospital Award” recipient, and show 90 consecutive days of 85% compliance in each of five (5) performance measures (Medicare’s HF – 1 through HF – 4 and Beta Blocker Usage) and all measures with in the previous 12 consecutive months. Earlier this year AHA redefined the Annual Performance award to require a minimum of 30 patient records, which excluded many of the participating CAHs due to low volume that would have otherwise qualified.
-A Rural EMS Workforce Study is collecting background data from 2,500 EMTs and paramedics licensed in Indiana to capture current workforce experience, training needs and motivations to enter and/or leave the emergency-care field. This information can be used to create workforce development plans aimed at the recruitment and retention of experienced emergency-care personnel near isolated communities.
The assessment data has proven vital to the Executive Director of the Indiana Department of Homeland Security in updating the database of EMS providers throughout Indiana.

-Purdue University will conduct a study targeted at rural healthcare administrators to identify key factors underlying their decision to use telemedicine. Based on these results, a core set of healthcare providers and IT professionals from rural facilities will participate in a process redesign initiative that will be replicable throughout the state.

2) Small Rural Hospital Performance Improvement Grant Program (SHIP)

The goal of SHIP is to assist small (less than 50 beds) rural hospitals pay for any or all of the following: 1) costs related to implementation of prospective payment systems, (2) compliance with provisions of HIPAA and 3) reduction of medical errors and quality improvement. State Offices of Rural Health (SORH) help eligible rural hospitals to participate in SHIP. Eligible hospitals submit an application to their SORH; the SORH prepares and submits a single grant application to HRSA on behalf of all hospital applicants in the State. There are approximately 1600 eligible hospitals nationwide and each usually receives approximately $9,000.
SHIP Award (FY06): $241,218

Program Highlights:

• Hospitals receiving funding: 25
• Hospitals in consortiums, networks or systems: 12
• Hospitals using funds for QI and /or reduction of medical errors: 22
• Hospitals using grant funds for Health Information Technology: 22

Major Accomplishments:

The primary goal of the Indiana SHIP Program is distribution of funding that critical access hospitals applied for through this U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration grant. Each applicant defined the objective and measurable outcome of each project which must fall into HIPAA or Quality Improvement. In order to measure the outcomes of this goal, each critical access hospital receiving funds through this grant will complete an evaluation describing how their funds were spent and if those funds allowed the hospital to fulfill its goal. Over 40% of current SHIP applicants requested that at least 20% of their funding be allocated to HIPPA measures. And, over 90% of current SHIP applicants request at least 80% of their funding is allocated for quality improvement measures.

The secondary goal of the FY 2006 Indiana Ship Program is to encourage hospital participation in building a consortium. The medium in which this consortium will be built is through real-time discussions such as teleconferencing, occurring on a bi-monthly basis. As a supplement to this goal, the Health Educator will complete two-to-three site visits per month to Indiana critical access hospitals. This will allow the SORH to become more accessible to the hospitals and support the consortium-building goal.

Total HRSA Funding (FY06): $971,082