RHIhub This Week - November 12, 2025
As an information clearinghouse on rural health issues, RHIhub provides access to a wide range of resources on relevant topics. Inclusion on RHIhub does not imply endorsement of, or agreement with, the contents by RHIhub or the Health Resources and Services Administration.
Creating Rural Physician Training Sites: Not Easy, Not Simple, But Happening With Federal Supportby Kay Miller Temple, MD Building on research showing that physicians trained in rural areas are more likely to stay rural, federal funding is supporting new rural residency program start-ups to help mitigate the prediction of a 60% rural physician shortage. Three healthcare leaders, located in sites from rural coast to rural coast, tell their organization's story of how this support is making a difference not just in healthcare access, but impacting their community in other ways. |
Upcoming Webinar
Using RHIhub to Support Community Health and WellbeingJoin us Thursday, November 20th at 12:00 p.m. Central to hear speakers from RHIhub share a website walkthrough and discussion on the types of resources, guides, toolkits, and other tools available for free to help support the work you are doing to improve rural health. Register today! |
State Rural Health Transformation Program ApplicationsCheck out our collection of publicly-available state Rural Health Transformation Program application materials, including project narratives, summaries, and related information. We will continue to add new information as it is found. |
Recently Added to the Online Library |
Nov 12, 2025 -- Highlights 2 new California laws aiming to increase access to maternal healthcare services in rural areas. One law creates a 10 year pilot program to operate standby maternity units for emergency care rather than maintaining staff full time. A second law relaxes licensing rules for birth centers. Discusses new maternity care options as a result of the new policies in Plumas County where a maternity ward closed in 2022. Source: Cal Matters Thinking Outside the Box: Summit Pacific Medical Center's Food as Medicine Program Nov 6, 2025 -- Highlights a food as medicine program at a rural Washington Critical Access Hospital, describing implementation and a focus on prevention to improve health outcomes. The program won the National Rural Health Association's 2025 Outstanding Rural Health Program award. Source: National Rural Health Association All 50 States Seek to Transform Rural Health with CMS Nov 5, 2025 -- The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) announce that all 50 states applied for funding from the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP). RHTP goals include supporting rural health innovation, improving sustainability, workforce development, new models of care delivery, and expanding technology access and utilization. Funding decisions will be announced by December 31, 2025. Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services |
Technical assistance program designed to equip aspiring pharmacy owners with the knowledge, resources, and connections needed to successfully open and operate a pharmacy in a rural community within the next 3-5 years. Geographic coverage: Nationwide Application Deadline: Nov 30, 2025 Sponsor: National Community Pharmacists Association Summer Health Professions Education Program A free summer enrichment program designed to improve access to information and resources for college students interested in the health professions. Geographic coverage: Nationwide Application Deadline: Feb 5, 2026 Sponsor: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation National Association of Community Health Centers New Board Chair Leadership Program A 5-part virtual leadership training program for new health center board chairs or those about to step into the board chair role. Training addresses the role of the board chair, board chair-CEO partnership, board meeting facilitation, navigating conflict, and board chair succession planning. Geographic coverage: Nationwide Application Deadline: Apr 1, 2026 Sponsor: National Association of Community Health Centers Innovation in Behavioral Health (IBH) Model Funding for state Medicaid agencies to test the impact of a value-based payment model supporting an integrated care delivery framework in specialty behavioral health organizations and settings for adults with severe mental health conditions and/or substance use disorders. Geographic coverage: Nationwide and U.S. Territories Letter of Intent (Optional): Apr 1, 2026 Application Deadline: Jun 3, 2026 Sponsor: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Native American Research Centers for Health (NARCH) (S06) Offers grants for new or continued Native American Research Centers for Health, which support health-related research, research career enhancement, and research infrastructure enhancement activities to meet the health needs of American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities. Geographic coverage: Nationwide Letter of Intent (Optional): Jun 8, 2026 Application Deadline: Jul 8, 2026 Sponsors: Indian Health Service, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Broadband Planning Assistance Technical assistance for communities with actionable broadband projects. Assistance will include a customized road map to the best broadband solution to meet local needs. Geographic coverage: Nationwide Applications accepted on an ongoing basis Sponsor: Rural LISC |
Analyzes associations between receipt of ACS or USPSTF guideline-concordant mammography and factors including healthcare-related financial hardship, insurance status, and rurality, utilizing 2023 National Health Interview Survey data of 11,138 women. Includes data on interactions between healthcare-related financial hardship and rurality within the context of access to mammography. Author(s): Nicole E. Caston, Lisa P. Spees, Austin R. Waters, Stephanie B. Wheeler Location: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention Date: 09/2025 County-Level Vulnerability Is Associated With Mental Health and Substance Use Treatment Among Rural Suicide Decedents: A National Multi-Year Cross-Sectional Study Presents a study on the relationship between individual- and county-level factors that correlate with rural suicide decedents who receive mental health and substance use dependence treatment. Breaks down data by county-level factors, such as number of mental health providers, number of primary care providers, and rate of social associations, among others, as well as individual characteristics, such as age, sex, education, and marital status, among others. Author(s): J. Priyanka Vakkalanka, Victor A. Soupene, Jennifer Van Tiem, et al. Location: Journal of Rural Health, 41(4), e70094 Date: 11/2025 Final CY 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule: Fact Sheet Fact sheet covering the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) telehealth policy changes for 2026 as outlined in the final calendar year (CY) 2026 Physician Fee Schedule. Covers the process for determining which services can be delivered by telehealth; frequency limitations for inpatient visits, nursing facilities, and critical care consults; direct supervision through the use of live video; payment to Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Clinics (RHCs); and more. Sponsoring organization: Center for Connected Health Policy: The National Telehealth Policy Resource Center Date: 11/2025 Inpatient Utilization of Therapeutic Plasma Exchange in the United States: 2016-2021 Examines demographic and clinical variables associated with utilization of therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) in the U.S. from 2016 to 2021. Utilizes national inpatient sample (NIS) data to analyze TPE utilization according to patient demographics, insurance type, discharge outcomes, clinical conditions, and hospital type, costs, region, bed size, and rurality. Author(s): Jianling Tao, Sijie Zheng, Lusilda Agolli, et al. Location: Kidney Medicine, 7(11), 101105 Date: 11/2025 Leveraging the Rural-Urban Commuting Area Tool to Address Geographic Disparities in Cancer Care: A Dual-Application Framework for Institutional and National Initiatives Details an open-access Rural-Urban Community Area (RUCA) tool to standardize patients' geographic coding in cancer disparities research by integrating RUCA codes with census tract and electronic health record system data. Provides data on the tool's application, utilizing 2023 cancer registry data provided by Wake Forest Cancer Center in North Carolina. Author(s): Meredith C.B. Adams, Cody L. Hudson, Matthew L. Perkins, Robert W. Hurley, Umit Topaloglu Location: JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics, 9, e2500122 Date: 11/2025 On Demand: Mark Holmes on Public Policy, Health Care Financing and Rural Places A recorded webinar featuring Mark Holmes, Director of the University of North Carolina (UNC) Sheps Center for Health Services Research. Focuses on public policy, research and data, and rural healthcare financing. Sponsoring organization: Kansas Health Institute Date: 10/2025 Poor Mental Health Days and Depression by Farming Occupation and Sociodemographic Factors: BRFSS 2019 Data from 13 States Analyzes 2019 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey sociodemographic data from 13 states to compare poor mental health days and depression diagnosis between farmers and non-farmers. Discusses study findings in light of disproportionate suicide rates for people in farming occupations. Author(s): Jeanne M. Ward, John R. Blosnich Location: Journal of Agromedicine, 2025 Date: 11/2025 Rural Perspectives on Digital Health in Cardiovascular Care: Qualitative Study of Interviews With Rural and Rural-Serving Primary Care Providers and Cardiologists Explores the perspectives of 17 rural and rural-serving healthcare providers in Alaska, Idaho, and Washington, on the use of digital health to deliver rural cardiovascular care. Discusses five factors that influence adoption outlined by the Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) theory: relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability. Identifies themes that emerged from semi-structured interviews with these providers, including advantages and disadvantages of using digital health in their practice. Author(s): Signe Burchim, Susan Miller, Kristin Beima-Sofie, et al. Location: Journal of Medical Internet Research, 27, e77234 Date: 11/2025 State Awards From Most of the Rural Health Funds Could Vary Only Modestly Despite Large Differences in Rural Needs Describes the estimated Rural Health Transformation Program funding distribution among the 50 states. Includes information on the potential allocation criteria for funding distributed based on state need. Notes plans for distributing funding in years 2 through 5 of the award. Sponsoring organization: KFF Date: 11/2025 Strategies for Cyber Preparedness in Health Care A set of practical strategies to help healthcare organizations prepare for and manage cybersecurity risks. Covers cybersecurity as a core aspect of enterprise risk management, how to prepare the workforce, planning for clinical continuity, third-party risk assessment, and regional planning and collaboration. Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association Date: 2025 Tracking State Releases of Rural Health Transformation Program Applications Presents an interactive map identifying state announcements and release of their Rural Health Transformation Program application materials or summaries. Sponsoring organization: State Health & Value Strategies Date: 11/2025 |
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Tell Us How RHIhub Has Impacted YouEmail kristine@ruralhealthinfo.org about how RHIhub has impacted you. Your stories may be used in testimony, budget documents, and presentations concerning the Rural Health Information Hub. |