The Federal Office of Rural Health Policy provides Small Rural Hospital Improvement (SHIP) Grant Program funds to State Offices of Rural Health to assist small rural hospitals with activities related to any or all of the following:
- Value-Based Purchasing (VBP)
- Accountable Care Organizations or Shared Savings (ACOs)
- Payment Bundling/Medicare Prospective Payment System (PB/PPS)
For the Small Rural Hospital Improvement (SHIP) Grant Program, a small rural hospital is defined as one with 49 beds or less (as reported on the hospital's most recently filed Medicare Cost Report) and located in a rural area. All Critical Access Hospitals are eligible for the program. Other hospitals with 49 beds or less can check their rural status by using the Rural Health Grants Eligibility Analyzer Tool at the following web address: https://datawarehouse.hrsa.gov/tools/analyzers/geo/Rural.aspx.
Hospitals must submit an application annually and are required to submit status and final reports on all activities.
For more information, please contact our office at 601-576-7874.
