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Methodology
RHTP and Tracker terms, clearly defined.
The vocabulary used across the product, including how opportunity status, relevance, verification, and source freshness are determined.
Program
- RHTP
- Rural Health Transformation Program — the federal initiative this tracker follows.
- CMS
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services — the federal agency funding the program.
- HRSA
- Health Resources & Services Administration — federal home of rural health policy.
- Flex office
- A state's office responsible for rural hospital flexibility and program coordination.
Opportunity types
- RFP
- Request for Proposals — a solicitation inviting competitive bids.
- RFA
- Request for Applications — a solicitation for grant-style applications.
- RFI
- Request for Information — market research, not yet a funding solicitation.
- NOFO
- Notice of Funding Opportunity — a formal federal funding announcement.
- Amendment
- A change to a previously posted opportunity.
Opportunity statuses
- Open
- Accepting applications, with no deadline within 14 days.
- Closing soon
- Due within 14 days (computed on read in US Eastern time).
- Upcoming
- Posted with a future start date; not yet open.
- Closed
- The due date has passed.
Health & data terms
- CAH
- Critical Access Hospital — a Medicare designation for small rural hospitals.
- FQHC
- Federally Qualified Health Center — community-based primary care.
- HPSA
- Health Professional Shortage Area — a designated workforce-shortage area.
- RUCC
- Rural-Urban Continuum Codes — USDA county classifications used for rural share.
- PLACES
- CDC model-based local health estimates, compared to national averages.
- Completeness score
- A 0–100 extraction score showing how many useful document fields were captured. It is not a judgment of the source document's quality.
- Freshness
- Derived recency: New (<48h) or Recent (<7d) since discovery.