Rural Health Transformation Program

MN Rural Health Transformation Outgoing Funding

Funding for rural health organizations as outlined in the program project narrative will be released in 2026. More information will be available. To find out about funding opportunities, please subscribe for updates.

Learn more about the Rural Health Transformation Program

Rural Health Transformation - Frequently Asked Questions (PDF) (external link to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) website.)

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Application Background

Considerations

The following considerations impacted the amount of funding MN received:

• The percentage of the state’s population that is located in a rural census tract of a metropolitan statistical area (MSA).
• The proportion of rural health facilities (defined below) in the state relative to the number of rural health facilities nationwide.
• The situation of hospitals in the state.
• Any other factors that the CMS Administrator finds appropriate.

Goals of RHTP

The Rural Health Transformation Plan must demonstrate how the state will:

• Improve access to hospitals and other providers for rural residents.
• Improve health care outcomes of rural residents.
• Prioritize use of new and emerging technologies that emphasize prevention and chronic disease management.
• Initiate, foster, and strengthen local and regional strategic partnerships between rural hospitals and other providers to promote quality improvement, increase financial stability, maximize economies of scale, and share best practices.
• Recruit and retain clinicians.
• Prioritize data and technology-driven solutions that help rural providers furnish health care services as close to the patient's home as possible.
• Outline strategies to manage long-term financial solvency and operating models of rural hospitals.
• Identify specific causes that are driving standalone rural hospitals to close, convert, or reduce service lines.

Eligible Activities

States will be allowed to use funds for 3 or more of the following eligible activities and must outline how these activities will achieve the goals of the transformation plan.  

1. Promoting evidence-based, measurable interventions to improve prevention and chronic disease management. 
2. Providing payments to health care providers for the provision of health care items or services, as specified by the CMS Administrator. 
3. Promoting consumer-facing, technology-driven solutions for the prevention and management of chronic diseases. 
4. Providing training and technical assistance for the development and adoption of technology-enabled solutions that improve care delivery in rural hospitals, including remote monitoring, robotics, artificial intelligence, and other advanced technologies. 
5. Recruiting and retaining clinical workforce talent to rural areas, with commitments to serve rural communities for a minimum of 5 years. 
6. Providing technical assistance, software, and hardware for significant information technology advances designed to improve efficiency, enhance cybersecurity capability development, and improve patient health outcomes. 
7. Assisting rural communities to right size their health care delivery systems by identifying needed preventative, ambulatory, pre-hospital, emergency, acute inpatient care, outpatient care, and post-acute care service lines. 
8. Supporting access to opioid use disorder treatment services, other substance use disorder treatment services, and mental health services. 
9. Developing projects that support innovative models of care that include value-based care arrangements and alternative payment models.
10. Additional uses to promote sustainable access to high quality rural health care services, as determined by the CMS Administrator.

Minnesota's Request for Input

Minnesota sought information from the public during its development of application to CMS. Questions from that process are posted. Rural Health Transformation Plan - Public Comments (PDF)