Small Rural Hospital Improvement Grant Program (SHIP)

The UK Center of Excellence in Rural Health (UK CERH) was established in 1990 to address health disparities in rural Kentucky. Serving as the federally designated Kentucky Office of Rural Health (KORH), innovation, research, education, service and community engagement are the driving forces that, for 30 years, have propelled the UK CERH forward in our mission to improve the health and well-being of rural Kentuckians. Overview of the Project: KORH will collaborate with participating Critical Access and small rural hospitals across the Commonwealth in efforts of achieving the purpose and objectives of the grant, improving the quality and access to health care in the rural communities of Kentucky. The mission of the KORH is to support the health and well-being of Kentuckians by promoting access to rural health services. For this funding cycle, KORH seeks to assist in strengthening systems of care across rural and underserved Kentucky communities by: Goal 1: Supporting eligible hospitals in meeting value-based payment and quality care goals. Goal 2: Assisting eligible hospitals in participating in delivery system reforms. Goal 3: Supporting the participation of payment bundling to comply with quality improvement Across-the-board objectives include: • Maintaining participation of SHIP-eligible hospitals • Improving SHIP and Flex Alignment. • Monitoring and Continuous Quality Improvement. • Participation in ICD-11 Coding Readiness and or Implementation. Kentucky is the 16th most rural state in the nation, 41.6 percent of Kentuckian’s live in rural areas. The state has a significantly higher than average proportion of the population that is subject to chronic illness and death, and has a higher than average percentage of the uninsured.