Rural Quality Advisory Council - Rural Quality Improvement Technical Assistance

The Rural Quality Advisory Council informs the work of Rural Quality Improvement Technical Assistance (RQITA), a program of the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP). Through RQITA, Stratis Health provides technical assistance related to quality reporting and improvement to beneficiaries of FORHP quality initiatives across the country such as grantees, CAHs, and other rural providers.

We provide technical assistance and develop quality reporting and improvement resources to support CAH success in the Medicare Beneficiary Quality Improvement Project (MBQIP), and implementation of chronic illness care initiatives by the 36 Small Health Care Provider Quality Improvement grantees across the country.

The Rural Quality Advisory Council:

• Offers advice and counsel on development of rural-relevant quality improvement goals and metrics, and integration into new and existing FORHP funded programs, as well as use the RQITA program and learnings to help build toward the next iteration of relevant and meaningful rural quality measurement.
• Provides feedback, guidance, and insight on the development, implementation, and evaluation of the RQITA measurement and improvement strategies.

RQAC meeting summaries

Below are links to a rolling year of meeting summaries from Rural Quality Advisory Council meetings.

• January 2019 (4-page PDF)
• October 2018 (3-page PDF)
• July 2018 (4-page PDF)
• April 2018 (3-page PDF)

Rural Quality Advisory Council 2019

The council is comprised of 15-20 leaders in rural health quality, representing diverse perspectives from across the country.

• Kathy Alkire, Hi-Desert Memorial Health Care District, California
• Billie Bell, Medina Healthcare System, Texas
• Tim Boyd, New England QIN-QIO, New Hampshire
• Ashima Butler, Ellenville Regional Hospital, New York
• Marcy Cameron, Colorado Rural Health Center
• Angie Charlet, Illinois Critcal Access Hospital Network (ICAHN), Illinois
• Carrie Fortune, ARcare, Arkansas
• Mariah Hesse, Sparrow Clinton Hospital/Michigan CAH Quality Network, Michigan
• Danielle Kunkel, Washington State Department of Health, Washington
• Kelly McGrath, Clearwater Valley Hospital and Clinics, Idaho
• Roger Wells, Howard County Medical Center, Nebraska

Key Partners

• Sally Buck, National Rural Health Resource Center (TASC), Minnesota
• John Gale, University of Southern Maine (FMT), Maine
• Megan Lahr, University of Minnesota (FMT),  Minnesota
• Ira Moscovice, University of Minnesota (FMT), Minnesota
• Tammy Norville, National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health, Oregon
• Amanda Phillips Martinez, Georgia Health Policy Center (SHCPQI TA), Georgia
• Kristine Sande, Rural Health Information Hub, North Dakota
• Brock Slabach, National Rural Health Association, Kansas

Staff

• Jennifer Lundblad, RQITA/Stratis Health, Minnesota
• Karla Weng, RQITA/Stratis Health, Minnesota
• Yvonne Chow, HRSA FORHP, Maryland
• Katherine Lloyd, HRSA FORHP, Maryland
• Sarah Young, HRSA FORHP, Maryland