Flex Rural Veterans Health Access Program - Project Title: 'Improving Rural Enrollment, ACcess, and Health in Rural and Frontier Veterans (I-REACH Rural and Frontier Veterans) Applicant Organization Name: Michigan Center for Rural Health Address: 909 Wilson Rd. Rm B-218, East Lansing, MI 48824 Project Director Name: John Barnas Contact Phone Numbers: (517) 355-7979 Email Address: barnas@msu.edu Website Address: https://mcrh.msu.edu/index.html Special consideration: Title XVIII, Section 1820(g)(6) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395i-4(g)(6) The Michigan Center for Rural Health (MCRH), in collaboration with the Veteran VVellBeing (V3) Lab, the Center for Research, Evaluation, and Academic Center on Health Disparities, and our stakeholder, the Iowa City Veterans Rural Health Resource Center (IC-VRHRC), submits the project titled 'Improving Rural Enrollment, ACcess, and Health in Rural and Frontier Veterans (I-REACH Rural and Frontier Veterans)'. This initiative seeks to implement Veteran-centric, culturally competent strategies to enhance healthcare access for Veterans residing in rural and frontier [defined as extreme and highly rural]). The project will focus on expanding service access, enhancing care coordination, and supporting efforts led by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with VA, with coordination between the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) and the VA Office of Rural Health. Special attention will be given to underserved Veterans and caregivers (RVUVC). Our program is designed to further expand our regional networks that address key priorities: expanding healthcare services for underserved populations such as geriatric, female, Native American, and minority veterans; enhancing care coordination across VA and community care providers, including the VA community care program; offering benefits counseling to help veterans access mental health, substance use disorder (SUD) services, and other necessary healthcare services; and supporting rural and frontier providers in billing for services rendered to local veterans. This nationally recognized and evidence-based initiative has been highlighted for its success by local and national stakeholders, rural veterans, and the VA Secretary, who has personally acknowledged its impact. Our objectives align with the primary and core program objectives of the RVHAP and include the following: (1) improving access to healthcare services for underserved rural and frontier Veteran populations, including geriatric, female, Native American, and minority veterans, while addressing social determinants of health such as transportation, housing, food security, and digital literacy; (2) improving care coordination for Veterans seeking care within the VA system and from other community providers, including the VA community care program, with particular attention to how social determinants of health influence care transitions and outcomes; (3) providing benefits counseling to improve access to mental health services, substance use disorder (SUD) services, and other necessary healthcare services, addressing barriers rooted in education, income, and access to social support networks; and (4) helping rural and frontier providers bill for services provided to local Veterans, thereby enabling better resource allocation to address the broader social and economic factors affecting the health of rural Veterans.
