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The Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP) is a part of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
HRSA is the lead federal agency responsible for monitoring and improving historically scarce health care services for 60 million people living in rural areas. In financial year 2008, HRSA invested $175 million to improve health care in rural America, where access to medical services is often limited. ORHP is the lead office for coordinating and carrying out these grant activities, which help fund Critical Access Hospitals and other rural hospitals, community health centers, rural health clinics, and other rural providers of health care.
In addition, the office serves as a "policy voice" within HHS to make sure regulatory actions take into account the special conditions faced by rural health care providers. The Director of ORHP is currently Tom Morris, who took over for Marcia Brand in 2008.
Congress created the ORHP in 1987 and charged HRSA with advising the HHS Secretary on health care matters affecting rural hospitals, coordinating activities that related to rural health care, and maintaining a national information clearinghouse for state governments, federal policymakers, and providers. Congress was concerned that the proceeding decades had seen many rural hospitals close and that there was a lack of coordination within the Federal Government for rural health activities.
HRSA funds state-run Offices of Rural Health in each of the 50 states to collect and disseminate health-related information about rural areas, provide technical assistance to rural providers and hospitals, and work with communities to recruit and retain health providers. In addition, ORHP provides technical assistance and funding to state rural health associations through a partnership with the National Rural Health Association.
Through the Outreach and Network Development grant programs, HRSA funds improve the delivery of rural health care by encouraging greater collaboration and the creation of networks among local health care providers. Agency funds also strengthen "Critical Access Hospitals," small rural institutions that serve as key access points for Medicare beneficiaries. Other grants help rural hospitals and clinics acquire computer file-sharing systems and telemedicine equipment, which allows physician-to-physician and doctor-patient consultations over great distances.
HRSA also administers the Black Lung Clinic program, which provides treatment and rehabilitation for people who have occupation-related respiratory and pulmonary disease, and the Radiation Exposure Screening and Education Program, whose grantees educate, screen and refer for treatment people who were harmed by above-ground nuclear tests in the Southwest in the mid-20th century or by the mining, milling or transport of uranium.
HRSA supports rural health research centers to conduct short and long-term studies on rural health issues. The centers study critical trends facing rural communities in their quest to secure adequate, affordable, high-quality health services for their residents. The centers' research findings inform a wide audience of national, state and local decision-makers concerned with rural health.
HRSA offers technical assistance to more than 4,000 rural health clinics. Through quarterly conference calls, HRSA helps these small ambulatory clinics react to regulatory and market changes in health care. The agency also supports the Rural Recruitment and Retention Network, which helps locate qualified health care professionals to work in rural communities.
HRSA oversees services provided by the University of North Dakota's Rural Health Information Hub – formerly the Rural Assistance Center. RHIhub serves as an "information portal" to help rural communities and other rural stakeholders access the full range of available health care programs, funding and research.
HRSA works with the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Delta Regional Authority, the Denali Commission, and the U.S.-Mexico Border Health Commission to improve service delivery and reduce health disparities.
Two programs, the Delta States Rural Development Network Grant Program and the Delta Rural Hospital Improvement Project, target resources to improve health care in the Mississippi Delta.
ORHP manages HRSA's Border Health Activities. Much of the U.S.-Mexico border is rural, and the few urban areas located on the border often face challenges similar to those affecting rural communities, such as ensuring an adequate workforce, infrastructure development and improving poor health outcomes. Lessons learned on the U.S.-Mexico border may provide insight to communities everywhere that seek to improve services amid changing demographics and forecasts of long-term health workforce shortages nationwide.
Activities as part of this initiative have included expanding Community Health Centers sites to additional communities (there are now 31 in the border region), funding a technical assistance website on border health issues on the Rural Assistance Center website, and providing support funding for the National Rural Health Association's Border Health Initiative that is working to find policy challenges to provide care along the border.
The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is "Improving the health, safety, and well-being of America". Before the separate federal Department of Education was created in 1979, it was called the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW).
A Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) is a reimbursement designation from the Bureau of Primary Health Care and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. This designation is significant for several health programs funded under the Health Center Consolidation Act.
The Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC) is a part of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. HRSA helps fund, staff and support a national network of health clinics for people who otherwise would have little or no access to care. BPHC funds health centers in underserved communities, providing access to high quality, family oriented, comprehensive primary and preventive health care for people who are low-income, uninsured or face other obstacles to getting health care.
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is a division of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It is headed by the Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Children and Families. It has a $49 billion budget for 60 programs that target children, youth and families. These programs include assistance with welfare, child support enforcement, adoption assistance, foster care, child care, and child abuse.
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services located in North Bethesda, Maryland. It is the primary federal agency for improving access to health care services for people who are uninsured, isolated or medically vulnerable.
The HIV/AIDS Bureau is a part of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. It was established to deal with the growing problem of HIV/AIDS in the United States since the early 1980s.
The Healthcare Systems Bureau is part of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
The Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), is one of six Bureaus within the Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services located in Rockville, Maryland.
Elizabeth M. Duke was the administrator for the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) from March 6, 2002 to February 28, 2009.
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is a staff division of the Office of the Secretary, within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ONC leads national health IT efforts, charged as the principal federal entity to coordinate nationwide efforts to implement and use the most advanced health information technology and the electronic exchange of health information.
Mary Wakefield is an American nurse and health care administrator, who served in the Obama administration as acting United States Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services from 2015 to 2017, and as head of the Health Resources and Services Administration from 2009 to 2015.
A rural health clinic (RHC) is a clinic located in a rural, medically under-served area in the United States that has a separate reimbursement structure from the standard medical office under the Medicare and Medicaid programs. RHCs were established by the Rural Health Clinic Services Act of 1977, . The RHC program increases access to health care in rural areas by
The AIDS Education and Training Centers (AETC) are a United States network of five national centers, 11 regional training centers, and over 130 associated local performance sites that provide education on HIV and related co-morbidities such as hepatitis, tuberculosis, and sexually transmitted diseases for healthcare providers in the United States. The AETCs were established in 1987 through federal funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Bureau of Health Professions. In 1997, the AETCs became a component of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program. The Ryan White Program is administered by HRSA’s HIV/AIDS Bureau.
The community health center (CHC) in the United States is the dominant model for providing integrated primary care and public health services for the low-income and uninsured, and represents one use of federal grant funding as part of the country's health care safety net. The health care safety net can be defined as a group of health centers, hospitals, and providers willing to provide services to the nation's uninsured and underserved population, thus ensuring that comprehensive care is available to all, regardless of income or insurance status. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 29 million people in the country were uninsured in 2015. Many more Americans lack adequate coverage or access to health care. These groups are sometimes called "underinsured". CHCs represent one method of accessing or receiving health and medical care for both underinsured and uninsured communities.
School-based health centers (SBHCs) are primary care clinics based on primary and secondary school campuses in the United States. Most SBHCs provide a combination of primary care, mental health care, substance abuse counseling, case management, dental health, nutrition education, health education and health promotion. An emphasis is placed on prevention and early intervention. School-based health centers generally operate as a partnership between the school district and a community health organization, such as a community health center, hospital, or the local health department. Most SBHCs report that the majority of their student population is eligible for the National School Lunch program, a common indicator of low socioeconomic status.
The 340B Drug Pricing Program is a US federal government program created in 1992 that requires drug manufacturers to provide outpatient drugs to eligible health care organizations and covered entities at significantly reduced prices. The intent of the program is to allow covered entities to "stretch scarce federal resources as far as possible, reaching more eligible patients and providing more comprehensive services." Maintaining services and lowering medication costs for patients is consistent with the purpose of the program, which is named for the section authorizing it in the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) It was enacted by Congress as part of a larger bill signed into law by President George H. W. Bush.
The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) is the principal advisory group to the United States Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on policy development and provides coordination and support for HHS's strategic and policy planning, planning and development of legislation, program evaluation, data gathering, policy-related research, and regulatory program. ASPE refers both to the position, the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, and the office directed by that position. Since its authorization in 1965, ASPE has played an instrumental role as an internal strategy group, think tank, and incubator supporting the priorities and needs of the Secretary, and consequently, the Department as a whole.
Throughout the United States, many rural communities are faced with severe healthcare workforce shortage issues. These regions often consist of a larger percentage of medically underserved individuals, in conjunction with fewer physicians, nurses, and other healthcare workers. The shortage of healthcare workers negatively impacts the quality of medical care due to decreased access to health services as well as an increase in workload placed on providers. Healthcare systems in rural communities generally have fewer personnel and infrastructure, creating substantial healthcare disparities among the United States population. Rural communities tend to have a higher incidence of chronic diseases, infant and maternal morbidity, and occupational injuries. These communities also consist of individuals who tend to be older and have a lower socioeconomic status, which directly relates to the high rate of uninsured individuals. Ethnic minorities are also increasing in number throughout rural areas, further adding to the size of healthcare disparities.
Patient navigators educate and assist United States citizens in enrolling into health benefit plans stipulated in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). Patient navigators are also called "insurance navigators" or "in-person assisters" who have defined roles under the ACA. Although their roles might overlap, patient navigators are not community health workers or health advocates. "Navigators" work in states with Federally-Facilitated Exchanges (FFEs) or State Partnership Exchanges.
The Bureau of Health Workforce is a part of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. HRSA programs train health care professionals and place them where they are needed most. Grants support scholarship and loan repayment programs at colleges and universities to meet critical workforce shortages and promote diversity within the health professions.
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