The California Rural Health Transformation Program will provide novel and innovative strategies to bring rural and frontier communities the resources and quality health care services that they need. - Applicant Organization: California Department of Health Care Access & Information Subrecipients or Sub-awardees: TBD Total Funding Requested: $1,000,000,000 Purpose: HCAI proposes to create a network of regional care collaboratives for rural communities. The program will focus on timely, person-centered primary, maternity, chronic disease, and specialty care close to home. Informed by extensive stakeholder input, the program aligns with federal and statewide priorities and the five strategic goals of the Rural Health Transformation Program. The program will create novel initiatives to increase the workforce supply and modernize rural technology with the goal to improve primary, maternity, chronic condition, and specialty care throughout rural California. Project goals: The California Rural Health Transformation Program will improve local access to comprehensive, evidence-based care; strengthen and retain a homegrown rural workforce; modernize technology, health information exchange, and cybersecurity; improve financial stability of rural providers to keep essential services available; reduce rural patient travel burden; and improve maternal and chronic disease outcomes through earlier detection and improved coordinated management. The program will provide novel and innovative strategies to bring rural and frontier communities the resources and quality health care services that they need. Use of funds: Rural Health Transformative Care Model: The program will create regional hub and spoke networks anchored by hospital hubs and spokes that include critical access hospitals, clinics, birthing centers, and other providers. Key activities will include shared levels of care and transfer protocols; Project Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes for chronic disease and primary-specialty care collaboration; family medicine with obstetrics fellowships; OB Nest for prenatal care with remote patient self-monitoring and nursing support; and e-Consult resources and perinatal psychiatry access programs. The program will include targeted transformation payments to support rural hospitals’ capacity to transform their systems to support regional delivery of care, complete a telehealth gap assessment for each hub and spoke, and use accelerator partners to incubate workforce, technology, and payment solutions. Rural Health Workforce Development: The program will build a Statewide Workforce Mapping and Planning Tool to identify regional, county, and sub-county workforce needs; strengthen education pathways from high school to Community Colleges, and 4-year universities with wraparound supports; expand regional upskilling through Train-the-Trainer programs in maternal health, chronic disease, behavioral health, and telehealth; and grow non-physician roles such as Community Health Workers, nurses, doulas, and midwives. The program will fund pipeline and pathway programs, the expansion of clinical placement and supervision sites, and include retention and relocation incentive payments. Rural Health Technology and Tools: The program will modernize infrastructure and connectivity, including Electronic Health Record enhancements, health information exchange, and cybersecurity; operate a Technical Assistance Center that provides implementation support, training and certification, and capabilities assessment; expand collaboration through shared purchases and services; and deploy patient centered tools such as Remote Patient Self-Monitoring that integrate person generated data into clinical workflows. Expected Outcomes The program will deliver better health outcomes including more rural residents receiving primary, maternity, chronic disease, and specialty services locally; fewer preventable maternal complications; expanded local clinician and provider capacity; increased use of telehealth and e-Consults; improved health information exchange; stronger cybersecurity; reduced rural hospital bypass; and higher patient engagement.
