This notice announces the opportunity to apply for funding under the Rural Quality Improvement Technical Assistance (RQITA) Cooperative Agreement. The purpose of this program is to advance efforts to improve health care and quality of care in rural areas by supporting quality measure implementation, data reporting, and the use of data to drive improvements in care. This program directly supports critical access hospitals (CAHs) as Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) Program beneficiaries in carrying out activities of the Flex Program, and to meet the goals of the Medicare Beneficiary Quality Improvement Program (MBQIP).The purpose of MBQIP is to improve quality of care provided in CAHs by increasing quality data reporting and drive quality improvement activities based on the data.
Technical assistance (TA) shall be provided to beneficiaries of the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) quality initiatives, such as award recipients, CAHs, small rural health care providers, and other health care facilities/providers in rural areas. Reducing provider burden of participation in quality measurement reporting is a priority of this program.
NOTE: Multiple applications from an organization are not allowed. Interested applicants from within Duke should contact fundopps@duke.edu as early as possible.
Application Due Date: February 17, 2023
Eligible applicants include domestic public or private, non-profit or for-profit organizations. Institutions of higher education, faith-based and community-based organizations, tribes, and tribal organizations are eligible to apply.
HRSA estimates approximately $640,000 to be available annually to fund one recipient. The actual amount available will not be determined until enactment of the final FY 2023 federal appropriation. You may apply for a ceiling amount of up to $640,000 annually (reflecting direct and indirect costs) per year. This program notice is subject to the appropriation of funds, and is a contingency action taken to ensure that, should funds become available for this purpose, HRSA can process applications and award funds appropriately.