Rural Health Innovation and Transformation Technical Assistance | HRSA 19 022

Opportunity Information: Apply for HRSA 19 022

The Rural Health Innovation and Transformation Technical Assistance (RHIT-TA) opportunity (HRSA-19-022) is a discretionary cooperative agreement offered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), under CFDA 93.155. The grant is designed to fund a single award recipient that can deliver technical assistance to rural health stakeholders and the general public, with the practical goal of helping rural communities better understand, prepare for, and actively participate in the rapidly changing value-based care environment.

At its core, the program responds to a major shift in how health care is being paid for in the United States. Public and private payers are increasingly moving away from traditional fee-for-service reimbursement (which tends to reward volume of services) and toward value-based care approaches that aim to reward quality, outcomes, and efficiency. These models often include stronger performance measurement, more accountability for outcomes, and, increasingly, payment structures that involve some level of financial risk tied to cost and quality results. RHIT-TA is intended to help rural providers and communities navigate that shift, especially as value-based models continue evolving toward risk-based arrangements.

A major theme in the opportunity is that rural health care settings face challenges that can make value-based care harder to adopt and sustain compared with higher-volume urban or suburban systems. Rural providers often operate with lower margins and smaller patient populations, which can make it more difficult to cover the up-front investments associated with redesigning care, adopting new reporting and analytics capabilities, or hiring staff for care coordination and quality improvement. Low patient volume can also make performance measurement less stable; outcomes can look artificially high or low due to small numbers, increasing the chance of skewed results and making it harder to reliably demonstrate value. On top of that, taking on downside financial risk can be more threatening in rural environments where a single bad year or unexpected utilization pattern may have outsized financial consequences. RHIT-TA recognizes these realities and positions technical assistance as a way to reduce barriers and improve readiness for rural participation.

The program aligns directly with HHS priorities related to value-based health care and with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Rural Health Strategy (2018), which elevated rural health within payment and delivery reform efforts. In that context, RHIT-TA focuses technical assistance around four strategic areas emphasized by HHS: maximizing the promise of health information technology (including interoperability), boosting transparency around price and quality, supporting the development and testing of new Medicare and Medicaid payment and service delivery models, and reducing government burdens and barriers that get in the way of care coordination. The intent is not simply educational in the abstract, but practical and action-oriented, helping rural stakeholders understand what these policy and market shifts mean on the ground and what steps can make participation in value-based models more achievable.

The opportunity sets out two overarching goals for the technical assistance work. First, it aims to raise awareness of the unique considerations rural providers and communities face when implementing value-based care, both in today’s environment and as new models emerge, with specific attention to the four strategic areas above. Second, it seeks to actively engage stakeholders by providing strategies and support that help rural providers and communities participate in value-based care models, positioning them to succeed rather than be left behind as payment reforms expand.

From an administrative standpoint, the funding notice lists an expected single award, uses the cooperative agreement mechanism (suggesting substantial federal involvement and collaboration during the project), and identifies eligibility broadly as “Others,” with further clarification referenced in the full notice. The posting date was November 23, 2018, and the original application closing date was February 22, 2019. The award ceiling is listed as 0 in the extracted data, which typically indicates that the ceiling was not captured in the summary field or was defined elsewhere in the full announcement rather than implying no funding. Overall, RHIT-TA is best understood as a targeted federal effort to equip rural health systems and their partners with the know-how and practical support needed to adapt to value-based payment and delivery reforms while accounting for the distinctive operational and financial constraints of rural care.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Rural Health Innovation and Transformation Technical Assistance" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.155.
• This funding opportunity was created on Nov 23, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Feb 22, 2019. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for HRSA 19 022

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