health · HHS-HRSA

Small Health Care Provider Quality Improvement Program

Health Resources and Services Administration · HRSA-26-046

Closed

Award Range

$0 – $250K

Total Program Funding

$5.0M

Expected Awards

Deadline

August 6, 2026

GRANTQUICK SUMMARYPlain-English Overview

HRSA is giving up to $250K to small rural clinics and hospitals (under 50 staff) that want to get better at using clinical data to improve patient outcomes — specifically chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease. The twist: they also want you to improve your billing/coding staff's collaboration with clinical teams, so you can succeed in value-based care models (getting paid for outcomes, not just volume). You must be in a rural area and you can NOT have received this same grant before.

Who Should Apply

Small rural clinics, critical access hospitals, rural health clinics, or networks of small rural providers. Your org must be located in a rural area (HRSA's definition). Nonprofits, tribal orgs, and government health facilities all qualify.

Who Should NOT Apply

Urban providers, large hospital systems, individual practitioners, organizations that previously received this specific grant, or anyone not physically located in a rural area.

Key Requirements (Plain English)

•Must be located in a federally-designated rural area
•Must be a small provider (critical access hospital, rural health clinic, or equivalent)
•Must NOT have previously received this same grant
•Must focus on chronic disease quality improvement using clinical data
•Must include billing/coding staff collaboration in your plan
•No cost-sharing required (they cover 100%)

💡 GrantQuick Tip

This grant specifically says you CANNOT have received this award before for the same project. That means first-time applicants are the ONLY applicants. If you're a small rural clinic that's never gotten HRSA quality improvement money, you have zero incumbents to compete against. Focus your proposal on a specific chronic disease (diabetes is the easiest to show measurable outcomes) and show exactly how you'll use clinical data dashboards to track improvement.

Competitiveness: Moderate — 20 awards from a pool of ~100-200 eligible small rural providers. First-timers only, which limits the applicant pool significantly.

What This Grant Funds

The purpose of the Small Health Care Provider Quality Improvement Program is to strengthen the quality improvement culture in small rural healthcare facilities by building capacity to effectively collect and use clinical data while implementing evidence-based approaches to improve health care quality with a particular focus on improving chronic disease outcomes. Additionally, the program strengthens the skills and collaboration of the billing and coding staff in coordination with the front-line clinical staff. By creating a sustainable quality improvement capacity in small hospitals and clinics, these facilities will be better positioned to take part in value-based care models while also enhancing health care status for their patients.

Attachments

PDF

HRSA-26-046 Final.pdf

HRSA-26-046_Final.pdf

PDF

TA Webinar Announcement HRSA-26-046

TA_Webinar_Announcement_Template_HRSA-26-046_Pre-recorded.pdf

Who Can Apply

Eligible applicants must be a rural domestic public or nonprofit private health care provider or provider of health care services, such as a critical access hospital, a rural health clinic; or be another rural provider or network of small rural providers identified by the Secretary as a key source of local or regional care; and not previously have received an award under this subsection for the same or similar project. The applicant organization must be located in a rural area.

Eligible Applicant Types

Special District Governments501(c)(3) NonprofitsState GovernmentsOther Tribal OrganizationsOther (see NOFO for details)Nonprofits without 501(c)(3)Public Colleges & UniversitiesFederally Recognized Tribal GovernmentsCity/Township GovernmentsCounty Governments

Funding Details

Maximum Award: $250K
Total Program Funding: $5.0M
Expected Number of Awards: 20
Cost Sharing Required?: No
Funding Instrument: grant

Key Dates

Posted: July 2, 2026

Application Deadline: August 6, 2026 (0 days remaining)

Electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 11:59 p.m., ET, on the listed application due date.

Agency Contact

Kristin Martinsen kmartinsen@hrsa.gov

kmartinsen@hrsa.gov

Ready to apply?

View the full NOFO and submit your application on Grants.gov

View on Grants.gov