The Kansas Small Hospital Improvement Program (SHIP) is a federally-supported program to support small rural hospitals activities related to quality improvement and investments towards meaningful use of health information technology.

The Kansas SHIP is managed by the by State Office of Rural Health within the Bureau of Community Health Systems at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. KDHE has contracted with Healthworks to administer this program.  The SHIP is funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy in the Health Resources and Services Administration.

FY24-25 Grant Year Documents

Purchasing Guidelines

Reporting Deadlines

MBQIP Reporting Requirements

For more information about the new measures can be found on the krhop.net/quality tab.

    How does the SHIP work?

    Hospitals receive direct grant funds, ranging between $10,000 and $12,000, to use towards:

    • Improving data collection activities in order to facilitate reporting to Hospital Compare.
    • Maintaining accurate billing and coding systems.
    • Building accountability across the continuum of care and improving care transitions between ambulatory and acute, acute to upstream acute and acute to step-down facility.
    • Improving quality outcomes. Focus on activities that support QI such as reduction of medical errors as well as education and training in data collection and reporting and bench marking.


    Who is Eligible for SHIP grants?

    To be eligible for these grants, a hospital must be: 1) 49 available beds or less, as reported on the hospital’s most recently filed Medicare Cost Report; 2) in a rural area, (located outside a Metropolitan Statistical Area or located in a rural census tract of a MSA as determined under the Goldsmith Modification); and 3) defined as a non-federal, short-term, general acute care facility.

    Hospitals with SHIP grant-specific questions, please contact Healthworks at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Susan Pattie at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

    Quarterly Webinars

    Click on the links below to listen to the recordings and view the slides of previous SHIP Quarterly Webinars.  To register for the next SHIP Quarterly Webinar on December 12, 2024, go to https://registration.kha-net.org/.

    September 12, 2024 Recording and Slides

    June 12, 2024 Recording and Slides

    March 12, 2024 Recording and Slides

    December 14, 2023 Recording and Slides

    Upcoming Events

    Nov 21, 2024 - 08:30AM - 04:00PM
    Rural Health Symposium

    Dec 10, 2024 - 01:00PM - 02:00PM
    Financial Webinar: Price Transparency

    Dec 11, 2024 - 11:00AM - 12:00PM
    Swing Bed Work Group Huddle

    Dec 12, 2024 - 12:00PM - 01:00PM
    SHIP Quarterly Webinar

    Dec 17, 2024 - 11:00AM - 12:00PM
    Care Transitions Learning Community

    Dec 19, 2024 - 09:00AM - 10:00PM
    Health Equity and Social Drivers of Health Networking Group