Networking and Collaboration

Introduction

Efforts to improve and sustain the quality of life in rural communities must include collaboration and networking among a broad spectrum of leaders in health and human services, government, education, business, the faith community, and economic development. Both formal and informal leaders need to be identified early in the effort to build a collaborative or network to ensure success. Members of the collaborative and/or network may be similar in scope and function or extremely diverse. Program development needs to focus on creating 'win:win' partnerships that avoid duplication of efforts while creating opportunities for resource sharing and synergy.

Tools

Delta States Rural Development Network Grant Program
Web site
Designed to encourage the development of new and innovative health care delivery systems in rural communities in the Delta states that lack essential health care services.
Sponsoring organization: Office of Rural Health Policy

HRSA Health Disparities Collaborative
Web site
A centralized portal for communication as well as a forum for sharing the challenges, successes, tools, and lessons learned to improve access to high quality, culturally and linguistically competent primary and preventive healthcare for underserved, uninsured, and underinsured Americans.
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration

Quality Through Collaboration: The NRHA Quality Initiative
Web site
NRHA initiative to promote access to coordinated, high-quality care in every rural community. Includes information on ways NRHA and the rural health community can achieve the recommendations of the Institute of Medicine's report, "Quality Through Collaboration: The Future of Rural Health."
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association

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

Success Stories Database
Database
Provides a variety of rural health success stories.
Sponsoring organization: Rural Assistance Center

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Regions
Web site
Displays a color-coded map showing the ten designated HHS regions in the United States and Territories. Includes links and contact information for each region.
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Funding

General Mills Champions for Healthy Kids Grant Program
Grants for programs to encourage communities to improve the eating and physical activity patterns of young people.

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.

Statewide Consumer Network Grant
Funding to enhance statewide consumer run organizations to promote service system capacity and infrastructure development.

Statewide Family Network Grant
Grants to enhance state capacity and infrastructure to the needs of children and adolescents with emotional disturbances.

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

Area Health Education Center and Community Health Center Collaboration: Effective Partnerships for the Recruitment of Health Professionals
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
Describes ways that Area Health Education Centers (AHECs) and Community Health Centers (CHCs) can work together to recruit and retain health professionals. Includes examples of AHEC-CHC partnerships in several states.
Date: 2006

Collaboration Is Key For Rural Challenges
Author(s): Jocelyn Richgels, Kristine Sande
Sponsoring organization: American Public Human Services Association
Discusses how collaborative efforts can help mitigate the significant challenges rural communities face when providing health and human services with fewer and different kinds of resources than their urban counterparts.
Journal citation: Policy & Practice
Date: 10 / 2009

Collaborations to Enhance Community and Population Well-Being
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
Chapter from the 2005 Report to the Secretary: Rural Health and Human Services Issues. Discusses ways the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services can support collaborations among community organizations and local rural leaders to improve the well-being of rural communities and residents. Includes examples of successful rural collaborations.
Date: 04 / 2005

Collaborative Workspace and Services
Author(s): Tuan Ngo
Sponsoring organization: Housing Assistance Council
Collaborative workspaces can help nonprofits overcome unavoidable operating expenses, and foster community synergy.
Journal citation: Volume 14 Issue 3
Date: 2009

Creating EHR Networks in the Safety Net
Sponsoring organization: California HealthCare Foundation
Discusses how a network approach to implementing EHR systems can ensure clinics and health centers to remain in the forefront of delivering quality care to the safety net.
Date: 03 / 2008

Developing Rural Ethics Networks
Author(s): Lisa Anderson-Shaw, Jacqueline J. Glover
Sponsoring organization: Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College
This sixteenth chapter of "Handbook for Rural Health Care Ethics", describes ethics network models currently available, including academic, government, independently-based networks, and informal networks, then details how to begin a rural ethics network.
Date: 2009

Grantee Sustainability in the Rural Health Outreach Grant Program
Author(s): Walter Gregg, Astrid Knott, Ira Moscovice
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
Describes a study of the post-grant experiences of 99 Rural Health Outreach Grant recipients. Focuses on the extent to which programs were able to maintain or expand services after their grants ended and characteristics that helped programs succeed in the post-grant period.
Date: 12 / 2003

History of the Rural Health Care Services Outreach Grant Program
Sponsoring organization: Office of Rural Health Policy
Describes the history of the Outreach Grant Program, which has had a significant impact on the health and welfare of many rural communities.
Date: 2004

Interagency Collaboration in Rural Areas
Sponsoring organization: National Child Welfare Resource Center for Organizational Improvement
Explores two approaches to interagency collaboration in rural areas, and the potential of these collaborations to improve the child welfare services available to children and families.
Journal citation: Child Welfare Matters Volume IV Issue 2

Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility/Critical Access Hospital Program in Pennsylvania: Success in Implementation and Collaboration
Sponsoring organization: Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health
Highlights of the PA CAH program.
Journal citation: Pennsylvania Rural Health Magazine Volume 12 Issue 2 Pages: 5
Date: 06 / 2003

Networking for Rural Health, Shared Services: The Foundation of Collaboration
Author(s): Anthony Wellever, Christina Folz
Sponsoring organization: AcademyHealth
Describes sharing and collaboration among rural health networks. Networks bring together rural providers and possibly other agencies, employers, or community organizations to address health care problems that could not be solved by any single entity working alone.
Date: 09 / 2001

Networking for Rural Health: Science and Art of Business Planning for Rural Health Networks
Author(s): Anthony Wellever, Robert Cameron
Sponsoring organization: AcademyHealth
Discusses ways in which cooperative business planning for rural health networks differs from single-firm planning.
Date: 11 / 2000

Nonprofit Sustainability: Doing More With Less
Author(s): Stephanie L. Geller, Lester M. Salamon, Sharon Wise, Kim Schaffer, Marlene Anglin, Tanisha Smith, Robin Kees, Tuan Ngo, Kim C. Datwyler, Dana Pancrazi
Sponsoring organization: Housing Assistance Council
This issue of Rural Voices focuses on nonprofit sustainability. Illustrates what organizations can do and are doing to survive the economic recession to include developing partnerships and encouraging volunteerism that can help sustain housing and other human services programs.
Journal citation: Rural Voices Volume 14 Issue 3
Date: 10 / 2009

Opportunities for Collaboration Across Human Services Programs
Sponsoring organization: Finance Project
Overview of some of the major human service programs administered at the state and local level. Discusses the interdependence of those programs, their common goals, and the way in which those programs might work together. Contributors include American Public Human Services Association, Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation, National Association for State Community Services Programs, National Association of State Alcohol/Drug Abuse Directors, National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services, National Association of State Directors of Special Education, National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors, National Association of State Workforce Agencies, National Association of Workforce Boards, National Child Support Enforcement Association, and the Finance Project.
Date: 06 / 2003

Organizing for Achievement: Three Rural Health Network Case Studies
Author(s): Anthony Wellever
Sponsoring organization: Office of Rural Health Policy
Three rural health networks are presented as examples. Networks within the community that include home health, pharmacy, social service agency and other partners and external cross-community networks of other hospitals and managed care networks are included. Case studies are in West Virginia, Montana and Kansas.
Date: 02 / 1999

Principles of Rural Health Network Development and Management
Author(s): Gregory Bonk
Sponsoring organization: AcademyHealth
Primer on the principles of rural health network development and management. Intended to help physicians, community leaders, health care service administrators, and network staff and board members develop successful rural health networks.
Date: 01 / 2000

Promoting Rural Health Care Quality Through Health Disparities Collaboratives: Columbia Valley Community Health
Author(s): Thomas D. Rowley
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
Describes a collaboration between a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) and a Critical Access Hospital (CAH) in Washington state to help improve access to health care.
Date: 12 / 2005

Quality Improvement in Rural Hospitals: How Networking Can Help
Author(s): Kerry Kemp
Sponsoring organization: AcademyHealth
Discusses how rural health networks can address quality improvement. Includes success stories and examples of quality improvement projects that networks might undertake.
Date: 08 / 2002

Quality Through Collaboration: The Future of Rural Health Care (Executive Summary)
Sponsoring organization: Institute of Medicine
Summary of an Institute of Medicine (IOM) report that examines the quality of health care in rural America. Includes key findings on rural health care quality and patient safety, as well as recommendations.
Date: 11 / 2004

Quality Through Collaboration: The Future of Rural Health Care (Full Report)
Sponsoring organization: Institute of Medicine
Examines the quality of health care in rural America. Includes recommendations to improve health care quality and safety in rural communities. Addresses workforce, information technology, finance and other factors that impact rural health care quality.
Date: 11 / 2004

Rural Health Network Profile Tool
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Resource Center
Can be used to assess a rural health network's organizational strengths and weaknesses and target the network's technical assistance needs.
Date: 12 / 2000

Staying Connected: Building Entrepreneur Networks
Author(s): Candace Nelson
Sponsoring organization: Aspen Institute
Discusses how networking, associations, and peer and affinity groups can support business growth and provides guidance on how to assess the costs and benefits of these strategies. This is Volume six of the FIELD Best Practice Guide series.
Date: 03 / 2004

Strategic Choices of Rural Health Networks: Implications for Goals and Performance Measurement
Author(s): Anthony Wellever, Douglas Wholey, Tiffany Radcliff
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
The purpose of this study is to obtain a greater understanding of rural health networks by classifying them according to their functions and purposes. Examples of performance measures that might be used for the different network types are given.
Date: 01 / 2000

Strategic Planning for Rural Health Networks
Author(s): Katherine Browne, Daniel Campion, Robert Stenger
Sponsoring organization: AcademyHealth
Discusses how to approach strategic planning in the context of a rural health network.
Date: 03 / 2001

Strength of Internet Ties
Author(s): Jeffrey Boase, John B. Horrigan, Barry Wellman, Lee Rainie
Sponsoring organization: Pew Internet and American Life Project
Highlights how the Internet, particularly email, supplements the communication people have with others in their network who are geographically dispersed. Extended networks appear to be beneficial in helping people face problems or make significant decisions, such as those related to career changes and education.
Date: 01 / 2006

Strengthening Tribal/State Collaborations: Opportunities for Further Direction
Author(s): Chandra Robinson
Sponsoring organization: Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network
Provides peer technical assistance from tribes and states operating TANF/NEW programs. Highlights of a two day workshop.
Date: 09 / 2002

Toward a Single Coherent Vision: Sustaining Interdepartmental Collaboration to Support Community Integration for Persons with Disabilities
Author(s): Eileen Griffin
Sponsoring organization: Center for Health Care Strategies
Discusses methods to coordinate and integrate human services for persons with disabilities across state agencies in Maine.
Date: 10 / 2002

Using Rural Health Networks to Address Local Needs: Five Case Studies
Author(s): Ira Moscovice, Walter Elias
Sponsoring organization: AcademyHealth
Describes five successful rural health networks. Includes information about network sizes and compositions, service area characteristics, and relevant activities. Appendix includes a list of all Networking for Rural Health targeted consultation grantees.
Date: 07 / 2003

Working Together: Rural Nebraskans' Views of Regional Collaboration
Author(s): John C. Allen, Rebecca Vogt, Randolph L. Cantrell
Sponsoring organization: Center for Applied Rural Innovation
Discusses rural Nebraskans' perceptions of regional collaboration, including sharing services with other communities and collaboration of businesses and institutions across communities.
Date: 09 / 2003

Organizations

Georgia Health Policy Center
State/regional organization
Works to improve the health status of all Georgians through research, policy development, and program design and evaluation.

National Cooperative of Health Networks (NCHN)
National organization
Supports and strengthens health alliances through collaborative efforts, networking, and educational opportunities. NCHN's membership currently includes 46 networks (mostly rural) representing over 600 hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and community-based health programs.

National Rural Health Association (NRHA)
National organization
Promotes leadership, ideas, information, communication, education, research, advocacy, and methods to improve rural health. Composed of individual and organizational members who share a common interest in rural health.

Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Federal government
Promotes better health care service in rural America. Part of the Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Focuses on matters affecting rural hospitals and health care, coordinating activities within the department that relate to rural health care, and maintaining a national information clearinghouse.

Terms & Acronyms

Collaboration The process by which people or organizations work together to accomplish a common mission.

Community A specific group of people, often living in a defined geographical area, who share a common culture, values, and norms and who are arranged in a social structure according to relationships the community has developed over a period of time.

Contractual Relating to or part of a binding legal agreement; "contractual obligations."

Gentleman's Agreement An agreement based on honor rather than on a formal contract and thus not legally binding.

Horizontal Network A network composed of similar types of entities, such as an all-hospital or all-nursing home network, that serve different geographic markets.

Integration Two or more organizations arrange to have a least one service from each contribute to the same program.

Legal Established by or founded upon law or official or accepted rules.

Networking The exchange of information or services among individuals, groups, or institutions.

Regionalization The identification of available resources within a geographic area, and the coordination of services to meet the needs of a specific group of patients.

Rural Health Network A formal organizational arrangement among rural health care providers (and possibly others) that uses the resources of more than one existing organization and specifies the objectives and methods by which various collaborative functions are achieved.

Vertical Network A network formed with organizations from different classes or with different purposes such as a network made up of a hospital, public health unit, nursing home, and ambulance system.

Success Stories

RAC Success Stories: Networking and collaboration