SDoH Prompts New Grant Funding

Grant awardees address rural health disparities.

One of the silver linings of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the massive emergence of telehealth platforms. The majority of payers now cover telehealth across specialties and services, from annual health evaluations to urgent care, physical therapy, and mental health counseling.

Yet despite the popularity of applications, poor quality and limited wi-fi and broadband continue to hamper access to care for all who need it, especially patients and providers in rural regions of the country. New funding aims to enhance services and bridge gaps for these areas in dramatic need.

Sixty-one organizations across 35 states will share $12.7 million in federal funding through the Rural Health Care Services Outreach Program. The program will expand and improve health services for rural residents by supporting innovative and evidence-based approaches developed to meet the specific needs of local communities, including telehealth and other services. Funding was broken down into two distinct tracks:

  1. $3.7 million was awarded to the Healthy Rural Hometown Initiative Track. Awardees focus on the underlying factors that drive rural health disparities related to the five leading causes of avoidable death: heart disease, cancer, unintentional injury/substance use disorder, chronic lower respiratory disease, and stroke. This track will demonstrate the collective impact of programming through organizational partnerships that manage these conditions, address risk factors, and focus on prevention efforts.
  1. $8.9 million was awarded to the Outreach Track. These awardees will collaborate with local healthcare and social service organizations to deliver health services to underserved populations and those who may have historically suffered from poorer health outcomes, health disparities, and other inequities. Targeted innovative projects will focus on the social determinants of health (SDoH), chronic disease management and prevention, care coordination, telehealth, dental care, and behavioral health, to name a few areas. The goals for the Outreach Track encompass four action areas:
  • Expand delivery of healthcare services to include new and enhanced services exclusively in rural communities;
  • Deliver healthcare services through a strong consortium, in which every consortium member organization is actively involved and engaged in the planning and delivery of services;
  • Utilize community engagement and evidence-based or innovative, evidence-informed model(s) in the delivery of healthcare services; and
  • Improve population health, and demonstrate health outcomes and sustainability.

The full listing of awardees for both programs can be viewed at the HRSA website

Our Monitor Mondays Listeners Survey asked how our listeners grade the telehealth/virtual platforms used by their organization. As always, the results reflected the realities of the times, and are visible here.

Programming Note: Listen to Ellen Fink-Samnick’s live reporting of the social determinants of health (SDoH) every Monday during Monitor Mondays, 10 a.m. Eastern.

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

Ellen Fink-Samnick, MSW, ACSW, LCSW, CCM, CRP

Ellen Fink-Samnick is an award-winning healthcare industry expert. She is the esteemed author of books, articles, white papers, and knowledge products. A subject matter expert on the Social Determinants of Health, her latest books, The Essential Guide to Interprofessional Ethics for Healthcare Case Management and Social Determinants of Health: Case Management’s Next Frontier (with foreword by Dr. Ronald Hirsch), are published through HCPro. She is a panelist on Monitor Mondays, frequent contributor to Talk Ten Tuesdays, and member of the RACmonitor Editorial Board.

Related Stories

Special Bulletin

The Undoing of SDoH Reporting

In a sweeping policy shift, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed significant rollbacks to Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) and equity-related

Read More

Leave a Reply

Please log in to your account to comment on this article.

Featured Webcasts

The Cost of Ignoring Risk Adjustment: How HCCs Impact Revenue & Compliance

The Cost of Ignoring Risk Adjustment: How HCCs Impact Revenue & Compliance

Stop revenue leakage and boost hospital performance by mastering risk adjustment and HCCs. This essential webcast with expert Cheryl Ericson, RN, MS, CCDS, CDIP, will reveal how inaccurate patient acuity documentation leads to lost reimbursements through penalties from poor quality scores. Learn the critical differences between HCCs and traditional CCs/MCCs, adapt your CDI workflows, and ensure accurate payments in Medicare Advantage and value-based care models. Perfect for HIM leaders, coders, and CDI professionals.  Don’t miss this chance to protect your hospital’s revenue and reputation!

May 29, 2025
I050825

Mastering ICD-10-CM Coding for Diabetes and it’s Complications: Avoiding Denials & Ensuring Compliance

Struggling with ICD-10-CM coding for diabetes and complications? This expert-led webcast clarifies complex combination codes, documentation gaps, and sequencing rules to reduce denials and ensure compliance. Dr. Angela Comfort will provide actionable strategies to accurately link diabetes to complications, improve provider documentation, and optimize reimbursement—helping coders, CDI specialists, and HIM leaders minimize audit risks and strengthen revenue integrity. Don’t miss this chance to master diabetes coding with real-world case studies, key takeaways, and live Q&A!

May 8, 2025

Trending News

Featured Webcasts

Navigating the 3-Day & 1-Day Payment Window: Compliance, Billing, and Revenue Protection

Navigating the 3-Day & 1-Day Payment Window: Compliance, Billing, and Revenue Protection

Struggling with CMS’s 3-Day Payment Window? Join compliance expert Michael G. Calahan, PA, MBA, CCO, to master billing restrictions for pre-admission and inter-facility services. Learn how to avoid audit risks, optimize revenue cycle workflows, and ensure compliance across departments. Critical for C-suite leaders, providers, coders, revenue cycle teams, and compliance teams—this webcast delivers actionable strategies to protect reimbursements and meet federal regulations.

May 15, 2025
Audit-Proof Your Wound Care Procedures: Expert Insights on Compliance and Risk Mitigation

Audit-Proof Your Wound Care Procedures: Expert Insights on Compliance and Risk Mitigation

Providers face increasing Medicare audits when using skin substitute grafts, leaving many unprepared for claim denials and financial liabilities. Join veteran healthcare attorney Andrew B. Wachler, Esq., in this essential webcast and master the Medicare audit process, learn best practices for compliant billing and documentation, and mitigate fraud and abuse risks. With actionable insights and a live Q&A session, you’ll gain the tools to defend your practice and ensure compliance in this rapidly evolving landscape.

April 17, 2025
Utilization Review Essentials: What Every Professional Needs to Know About Medicare

Utilization Review Essentials: What Every Professional Needs to Know About Medicare

Dr. Ronald Hirsch dives into the basics of Medicare for clinicians to be successful as utilization review professionals. He’ll break down what Medicare does and doesn’t pay for, what services it provides and how hospitals get paid for providing those services – including both inpatient and outpatient. Learn how claims are prepared and how much patients must pay for their care. By attending our webcast, you will gain a new understanding of these issues and be better equipped to talk to patients, to their medical staff, and to their administrative team.

March 20, 2025

Rethinking Observation Metrics: Standardizing Data for Better Outcomes

Hospitals face growing challenges in measuring observation metrics due to inconsistencies in classification, payer policies, and benchmarking practices. Join Tiffany Ferguson, LMSW, CMAC, ACM, and Anuja Mohla, DO, FACP, MBA, ACPA-C, CHCQM-PHYADV as they provide critical insights into refining observation metrics. This webcast will address key issues affecting observation data integrity and offer strategies for improving consistency in reporting. You will learn how to define meaningful metrics, clarify commonly misinterpreted terms, and apply best practices for benchmarking, and gain actionable strategies to enhance observation data reliability, mitigate financial risk, and drive better decision-making.

February 25, 2025

Trending News

Happy National Doctor’s Day! Learn how to get a complimentary webcast on ‘Decoding Social Admissions’ as a token of our heartfelt appreciation! Click here to learn more →

CYBER WEEK IS HERE! Don’t miss your chance to get 20% off now until Dec. 2 with code CYBER24