Small Rural Hospital Improvement
Grant Program (SHIP)

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) authorized funds from the Small Rural Hospital Improvement Grant Program (SHIP) to be used in four category areas:

  1. Value-Based Purchasing: activities that support data collection to facilitate quality reporting.
  2. Accountable Care Organizations or Shared Savings: activities that support the development of ACOs.
  3. Payment Bundling/PPS: activities that improve the revenue cycle process.
  4. Care Transitions: activities focused on reducing hospital readmissions

What is SHIP?

SHIP assists small rural hospitals with activities including purchasing equipment and/or training to help attain the value-based purchasing provision of the ACA, joining or becoming accountable care organizations and/or creating shared savings programs per the ACA, and purchasing health information technology, equipment, and/or training to comply with ICD-10 standards, meaningful use, and payment bundling.

Resources

Rural Pennsylvania hospitals interested in determining eligibility and participating in SHIP should contact the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health at: (814) 863-8214.