About

The Rural Health Clinic (RHC) program is intended to increase access to primary care services for Medicaid and Medicare patients in rural communities.  RHCs can be public, nonprofit, or for-profit healthcare facilities, however, they must be located in rural, underserved areas. They are required to use a team approach of physicians working with non-physician practitioners such as nurse practitioners (NP), physician assistants (PA), and certified nurse midwives (CNM) to provide services. The clinic must be staffed at least 50% of the time with a NP, PA, or CNM. RHCs are required to provide outpatient primary care services and basic laboratory services.

The main advantage of RHC status is enhanced reimbursement rates for providing Medicaid and Medicare services.

Visit the links below for more information on the RHC program.

• Rural Health Information Hub – RHC
• CMS Document on RHCs

WHERE ARE RHCS IN MICHIGAN? 

Check back soon for Michigan specific maps!

National RHC Map

REMOTE OPERATIONAL ASSESSMENT TOOL FOR MICHIGAN RURAL HEALTH CLINICS

The Michigan Center for Rural Health has teamed up with The Altarum Institute to provide a Remote Operational Assessment Tool for Michigan Rural Health Clinics.

This online tool is designed to help practice managers and providers identify and isolate areas of improvement, specifically around core functions of a medical practice including:

• Capacity Management/Patient Flow
• Phone and Reception Operations
• Scheduling
• Information Technology
• Productivity and Staffing models

After the assessment is completed by a representative from your organization, a healthcare performance improvement consultant will analyze the results. They will then provide a completed analysis, a detailed list of appropriate and issue specific best practices to implement, and one-on-one phone consultations to discuss the assessment and recommendations.

KEY POINTS ABOUT THE REMOTE OPERATIONAL ASSESSMENT TOOL

• The seventy-five question assessment asks a variety of questions surrounding core operational areas, providing information to a technical expert who delivers an analysis of practice operations, clarifies issues and barriers, and identifies opportunities for improvement.
• The tool provides “best practice” information throughout the assessment, heightening awareness around improvement ideas.
• This tool is especially useful for multi-site practices. It can demonstrate how processes and workflows vary from one location to the next, as well as highlighting best practices that occur at each location.
• The assessment tool, along with the suggested improvement ideas can serve as the foundation for complex improvement initiatives.

A rate of $400.00 was negotiated with Altarum, of which MCRH is supporting $300.00. The assessments will be provided on a first-come, first-serve basis, and a timeline for completion will be discussed with each RHC. 10-15 RHCs will be able to participate per quarter with a total of 50 RHCs able to participate. 

MICHIGAN RURAL HEALTH CLINIC LISTSERV 

Did you know that there is a Michigan Rural Health Clinic Listserv (MIRHC)? This helpful tool can be used to get questions answered, facilitate networking, share templates, tools and resources with your peers across the state of Michigan. Any RHC topic can be discussed! To sign up for the listserv, contact Jillynn.Oesterle@hc.msu.edu.