Clinics

Tools

CMS Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC)
Web site
Provides information on the Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) project, implementation strategies, who the RACs are, RAC jurisdictions, RAC expansion and provider outreach schedules, and FAQs.
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Directory of State and Regional Primary Care Associations
Web site
Address, phone, email and web addresses for state and regional Primary Care Associations (PCAs). PCAs work to promote, expand, and optimize access to primary care.
Sponsoring organization: National Association of Community Health Centers

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)
Web site
Links to information on HIPAA health insurance reform and Administrative Simplification.
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Healthcare Facility Design
Web site
Intended for community health centers and other safety net clinics that are planning upgrades to their facilities and was developed by The Center for Health Design (CHD). Offers literature reviews, best practice clinic design examples, recommended design and operational strategies, and tips from the field.

HHS.gov/Recovery
Web site
Provides information and resources on the programs invested in improving health and human services supported by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Innovators' Guide to Navigating CMS
Web site
Assist stakeholders in understanding the processes used to determine coverage, coding, and payment for new technologies under the Medicare fee-for-service program. Guide is intended as a general summary.
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Medicare Certified Rural Health Clinics
Web site
Provides a list of all RHCs in each of the 50 states. Includes provider number, name, address, city-state-zip, phone number, and county.
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Medicare Contracting Reform
Web site
Information and resources concerning the Part A/Part B Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs), which will replace the current fiscal intermediaries and carriers and handle administration of both the Medicare Part A and Part B programs in specified geographic regions.
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Office for Civil Rights - HIPAA
Web site
Provides fact sheets, links, educational materials, and background information on HIPAA.
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Poison Prevention Week Planner
Web site
Features useful information on how communities can work with local poison centers to implement prevention activities. The planner also gives tips for promoting events with media and through community outreach.
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration

Preparedness Resources for Healthcare Facilities
Web site
Serves as an online resource center designed to help hospitals and health care facilities improve preparedness for disasters and large-scale emergencies.
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Quality Improvement & Risk Management Training
Tutorial
Five training modules on integrating quality and risk management led by George Rust, MD, MPH, deputy director of the National Center for Primary Care at Morehouse School of Medicine.
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration

Rural Health Research: Hospitals and clinics
Web site
Provides summaries of current and completed rural health research projects and related publications addressing the topic of hospitals and clinics, produced by the Office of Rural Health Policy's funded rural health research centers.
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Research Gateway

UND Center for Rural Health Communication Toolkit
Web site
Provides resources and guidance to help rural health care facilities and organizations promote their services and organizations through the media.
Sponsoring organization: University of North Dakota Center for Rural Health

Funding

BPHC Loan Guarantee Program
Loan program to Section 330 health centers to obtain a loan guarantee for the financing of a medical facility construction, renovation and modernization.

Ladder to Leadership: Developing the Next Generation of Community Health Leaders
This initiative aims to enhance the leadership capacity of community-based nonprofit health organizations serving vulnerable populations.

National Health Service Corps Recruitment and Retention Assistance
Assistance for qualifying practice sites in recruiting and retaining community-responsive, culturally competent primary care clinicians.

Safety-net Enhancement Initiative
Funding designed to reduce health disparities within vulnerable communities by enhancing collaboration and coordination among agencies and institutions providing health and social supports to these communities.

Safety-net Facility Improvements
Facilities-capital challenge grant in community-based health centers through a variety of funding methods, including program-related investments or below market rate loans.

Service Area Competition Funding for Health Center Program (Areas Served Through Grants with a Project Period Start Date of September 1, 2010)
Funding to provide comprehensive primary health care services to an underserved area or population.

USAC Rural Health Care Service Discounts
Provides discounts to rural health care providers to obtain Internet and telecommunications access.

William Randolph Hearst Foundations Health Grants
Provides funding to improve access to quality health care for underserved populations in rural and urban areas.

Inactive Funding

Inactive Funding Opportunities - Lists additional funding programs for this topic that are not currently accepting applications. Programs that are inactive may be offered again in the future.

Regulations, Forms & Other Useful Documents

Corporate Responsibility and Health Care Quality: A Resource for Health Care Boards of Directors
Author(s): Arianne N. Callender, Douglas A. Hastings, Michael C. Hemsley, Lewis Morris, Michael W. Peregrine
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Resource guide designed to help health care organization boards ask appropriate questions related to health care quality requirements, measurement tools, and reporting requirements.
Date: 2007

Federally Qualified Health Center Fact Sheet
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
A general summary about FQHCs that includes a list of helpful rural health websites.
Date: 04 / 2009

Financing Facilities During Today's Credit Crisis
Sponsoring organization: Safety Net Hospitals for Pharmaceutical Access
Describes how rural healthcare entities can improve their chance of successfully securing financing for construction, expansion or remodeling projects during the current economic crisis.
Date: 2009

Munson Medical Center: Constant Focus on Patient Satisfaction
Author(s): Sharon Silow-Carroll
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
Munson Medical Center, a large non-profit hospital serving patients in 24 primarily rural counties, was identified as providing higher patient satisfaction, as measured by the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey. This case study describes the strategies and factors that contributed to their success.
Date: 12 / 2008

Rural Community Health Centers: Building Creative Partnerships to Meet the Workforce Challenge
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
Reports on the second meeting of the National Rural Task Force making recommendations to the NRHA the special needs of rural providers and to promote the long term growth and substance or rural health centers.
Date: 07 / 2008

Rural Health Clinic Fact Sheet
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Presents facts about the Rural Health Clinics program that includes the requirements for a facility to become an RHC, Medicare payments for RHC services, and a list of rural health websites.
Date: 04 / 2009

Rural Health Clinics Issue Paper
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
Provides an overview of the history of the federal Rural Health Clinic (RHC) program. Discusses RHC program requirements and how RHCs impact health care access in rural areas.
Date: 01 / 2007

Starting a Rural Health Clinic: A How-To Manual
Sponsoring organization: Office of Rural Health Policy
Detailed guide describing the Rural Health Clinic (RHC) program. Includes instructions on how to determine eligibility and financial feasibility of RHC status and how to apply to become an RHC. Includes a sample RHC policies and procedures manual.
Date: 04 / 2004

Organizations

American College of Small or Rural Healthcare (ACSRH)
National organization
Part of the American Academy of Medical Administrators (AAMA). A shared interest group that focuses on the special needs and interests of small or rural healthcare organizations.

Association of Clinicians for the Underserved (ACU)
National organization
A nonprofit, transdisciplinary organization of clinicians, advocates, and health care organizations working to improve the health of America's underserved populations and to enhance the development and support of the medical and dental clinicians serving these populations.

Association of Clinics for the Underserved (ACU)
National organization
A group of clinicians, advocates and health care organizations that work to improve the health of America's underserved populations and to enhance the development and support of the health care clinicians serving these populations.

Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC)
Federal government
Supports access to primary care services. Part of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
Federal government
Runs the Medicare and Medicaid programs - two national health care programs that benefit about 75 million Americans. Part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Clinical Directors Network (CDN)
National organization
Network of primary care clinicians in Community/Migrant Health Centers. Works to provide and improve comprehensive and accessible community-oriented primary and preventive health care services for poor, minority, and underserved populations.

Mobile Health Clinics
National organization
Dedicated to providing community outreach via the use of mobile medical and dental clinics. Includes news briefs, publications, and funding opportunities.

National Health Service Corps (NHSC)
Federal government
Works to improve the health of the underserved by recruiting and retaining the health professionals to deliver health care in underserved communities. Provides technical assistance to federally designated Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) on projects that enhance the NHSC's site development mission. Part of the Bureau of Health Professionals, Health Resources and Services Administration.