State
Offices of Rural Health Grant Program (SORH)
The mission of the Kansas State Office of Rural
Health (SORH), is to link rural communities with state and federal
resources and to help them support sustainable health care delivery
systems, and to ensure access to services in rural areas. Established
in 1989, the Kansas rural health office is an integrated part of
the Office of Local and Rural Health (OLRH) in the Kansas Department
of Health and Environment (KDHE), a cabinet-level agency in the
State of Kansas. The Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Grant Program
(Flex), and the Small Rural Hospital Performance Improvement Grant
Program (SHIP), are managed through the Office.
The State Office of Rural Health serves rural communities by delivering
direct services, collecting and disseminating of information; coordinating
activities in the state that relate to rural health care; identifying
federal, state, and non-governmental programs that support rural
health initiatives; supporting rural health policy development through
collaboration and partnerships, and supporting the recruitment and
retention of health professionals to serve rural areas of the state.
The SORH is one of several programs housed in KS Department of Health
& Environment - Office of Local and Rural Health. Other OLRH
programs include the Kansas Public Health program, the State Trauma
Program, the State Primary Care Office, and the statewide Farmworker,
Refugee & Immigrant Health Program (330 funded). The SORH functions
to ensure that rural health activities are coordinated among these
various programs and, to provide information regarding OLRH to constituents,
stakeholders, as well as other state, federal agencies and nongovernmental
programs.
1) 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): $150,000
Major Accomplishments in FY 2006 (October 1, 2005 – September
30, 2006):
- Increased communications: Maintained an interactive website
and the Kansas Rural Health Information Services (KRHIS), a unique
web-based information exchange system that electronically posts
rural health documents and other vital messages that are downloaded
approximately 10,000 times per year.
- Facilitated long-distance learning: Coordination lunch-hour
on-line video/webinar conferencing sessions with 72 participants
from hospital and clinic staff statewide that might not otherwise
be able to participate during work hours.
- Supported Recruitment & Retention: Collaborated with Rural
Health Education and Services (Kansas University Medical Center),
to recruit 38 health care providers for rural and underserved
areas.
- Enhanced Workforce Development: Supported course work delivery
for 78 public health and health care workers attending the Kansas
Public Health Leadership Institute and the Kansas Public Health
Certificate Program.
- Provided technical assistance interventions: Delivered over
400 consultations consisting of, training sessions, researched
items and issues, and first hand interventions for; rural clinics,
hospitals, individual providers, health departments, local, state
and federal requestors, and rural communities.
- Enhanced initiation of the State Oral Health Program: Supported
a statewide dental health workforce assessment and participated
in state strategic oral health plan development.
SORH Contact Information:
Office: Office of Rural Health
Address: 1000 SW Jackson, Suite 340
Phone: (785)296-1200
Fax: (785) 296-1231
Director: Gloria Vermie
2. 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): $710,548
Program Highlights:
- Number of Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) supported: 84
- Number of Critical Access-eligible Hospitals supported: 0
- Number of Rural Health Networks developed: 22
- Number of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) assisted: 66
- Number of Rural Communities assisted: 95
Major Accomplishments:
- Quality & Performance Improvement: Provided direct education
and training programs allowing 58 rural health systems to acquire
knowledge and tools to improve overall quality care delivery and
hospital management.
- Hospital data reporting: Supported an electronic web-based
hospital data reporting and benchmarking system (Quality Health
Indicators) for 112 Critical Access Hospitals in KS and five other
states.
- Disease prevention: Supported the Kansas Diabetes Prevention
and Control and Program that promotes chronic disease management
and data collection in 40 rural communities.
- Trauma Program enhancement: Supported the state Hospital Trauma
Program through course training for 112 rural health care and
EMS pre-hospital providers.
- Rural Strategic Health Care Networking: Sponsored a broad array
of state and national speakers and educators at 3 State Network
Council meetings attended by 157 rural hospital administrators,
managers, providers, and support network hospital representatives.
8) 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): $866,875
Program Highlights:
- Hospitals receiving funding: 95
- Hospitals in consortiums, networks or systems: 2
- Hospitals using funds for QI and /or reduction of medical errors:
95
- Hospitals using grant funds for Health Information Technology:
92
Major Accomplishments:
- 90 % of SHIP hospitals used funds to extend level of health
information technology services.
- Several hospitals successfully leveraged SHIP funds to enhance
QI capabilities and QI staff training.
- 100 % of SHIP rural hospitals have significantly improved HIPAA
security measures.
Total HRSA Funding (FY06): $ 1,727,423
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