Rural Health Transformation Program Implementation

Rural health systems are under sustained pressure as many communities confront shrinking provider capacity, unstable hospital finances, limited access to specialty and maternal care, workforce constraints, and the added strain of distance and aging infrastructure alongside rising demand.

The Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) was established by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, also known as H.R.1, to counter these challenges by offering states the resources and flexibility needed to strengthen rural health care systems in comprehensive, coordinated, and sustainable ways. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services established the Office of Rural Health Transformation to help states enact their planned initiatives.

Strategic Deployment and Implementation Framework

States need to prioritize initiatives that meet both immediate needs and long-term goals, while staying within CMS guidelines. Myers and Stauffer works with states to make this process manageable, using a clear step-by-step approach:

Setting up governance.
Sequencing initiatives across agencies and partners.
Engaging stakeholders.
Establishing evaluation and reporting processes.

This structured approach ensures that RHTP initiatives are coordinated and positioned for lasting impact.

Moving Your State Plan into Action

Myers and Stauffer has been helping states across the country develop and implement high-impact strategies, policies, and operations focused on a patient-centered system of care. States choose Myers and Stauffer for rural health transformation work because we combine policy expertise with practical implementation experience. Our team provides:

Public-sector-focused expertise aligned with federal requirements, state priorities, and accountability expectations.
Medicaid and CMS experience across financing, payment reform, compliance, technology and data analytics.
Operational understanding of rural health care grounded in real-world experience with rural hospitals, clinics, emergency medical services (EMS), and community-based providers.

Targeted and Timely Services

Program Planning and Governance. Myers and Stauffer works with states to establish implementation structures, sequence initiatives, and coordinate work across agencies and partners.
Medicaid Policy and Financing. We advise on rate setting, State Plan Amendments, managed care alignment, and payment strategies that reinforce RHTP objectives and sustainability.
Rural Provider and System Alignment. We engage stakeholders, including rural hospitals, emergency management services systems, and community and social service providers, to build robust networks and operational linkages across systems.
Workforce Strategy. We advise on workforce pipeline development, training and upskilling strategies, and recruitment and retention approaches.
Data, Evaluation, and Reporting. We design reporting and evaluation approaches that support accountability, transparency, and informed decision-making, including interactive dashboards with real-time insights on implementation status, activities, and funding.
Grants Management System. Our team supports all aspects of the grant life cycle, from strategic planning and design of subrecipient applications and budgets, to developing systems to disseminate grant funds, implementation and grant operations, and ongoing monitoring and oversight.
Federal Compliance and Sustainability. Myers and Stauffer provides guidance to states to meet CMS requirements while embedding sustainability into program design.

From start to finish, we stand ready to help your state execute high-impact strategies, policies, and operations to expand access to care, strengthen the rural workforce, and drive lasting, measurable improvements across rural health systems.

How We Can Help

We have been on the forefront of health care delivery system and payment transformation initiatives. We understand the urgency attached to the funding mandates, the need to make significant decisions quickly, the federal expectations for accountability, and the need to create meticulous reporting that demonstrates compliance.
In addition to hands-on experience assisting states with operational aspects of health care reform, we have experience working with rural, frontier, tribal-based, and remote populations throughout the country.