The points-based scoring for the new Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) is enough to make your head spin. Created by Section 71401 of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the RHTP provides funding to help states reach rural communities with healthcare. With $50 billion in workload funding on the line, tied directly to your technical score, every point matters. States must submit applications by Nov. 5.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) splits the funding: 50% distributed equally, 50% allocated based on a "technical score" rewarding your proposed initiatives and demonstrated policy commitments. The technical score covers 16 weighted factors spanning population health, workforce development, care delivery innovation, and technology integration.

Here's what most applicants miss: smart investments in communication and outreach don't just check one box, they boost your score across multiple categories. Technology that helps you scale your reach across vast rural areas isn't a "nice-to-have." It's a score multiplier.

How Blooming Health Strengthens Your Application

Blooming Health is built for exactly this challenge: connecting with hard-to-reach rural populations at scale. Our platform delivers personalized health communications through the channels people actually use, SMS, voice calls, and email, bridging the gap between healthcare systems and the communities they serve.

What makes us different:

• Automated, personalized outreach that reaches thousands without adding staff

• Real-time workflow automation that responds to survey answers, creates referrals, and sends targeted follow-ups based on individual needs

• Translations for 85+ languages with cultural competency built-in

• EHR integration that closes the care loop between community organizations and providers

When a community member responds to a wellness check indicating a need, Blooming Health automatically initiates referrals, tracks consent, monitors progress, and keeps everyone in the loop.

The result? You demonstrate exactly what reviewers want to see: concrete plans for reaching underserved rural populations, scalable technology infrastructure, and measurable impact, all while strengthening your application across multiple scoring categories.

Read on to see how Blooming Health can help you stand out in your application across manny categories by improving outreach.

Population Health & Prevention (11.25% of Technical Score)

Population Health Clinical Infrastructure (3.75%)

This category rewards integrated care models focused on preventive care, behavioral health, and social services coordination. Blooming Health excels here through:

• Multi-channel communication capabilities that reach rural communities via voice, SMS, and email in their preferred language

• Automated event reminder management that promotes preventive screenings, wellness classes, and chronic disease management programs. 

• Survey functionality that enables automated, weekly or daily wellness check-ins and identifies at-risk individuals before conditions escalate

• Referral management workflows that seamlessly connect identified needs with community resources

State applications can highlight how Blooming Health enables coordinated outreach to thousands of rural residents simultaneously, ensuring preventive care reminders reach even those without internet access or smartphones.

Our partners report saving up to 10 hours a week per staff member with Blooming Health’s automation. No longer do staff members need to do manual outreach making dozens of calls.

Health & Lifestyle Initiatives (3.75%)

CMS wants to see prevention-focused initiatives around nutrition, diet, and exercise. Blooming Health supports these goals through:

• Broadcast messaging for nutrition education campaigns that can be auto-translated into multiple languages

• Scheduled communications that deliver consistent behavioral nudges (exercise reminders, hydration tips, healthy recipe ideas)

• Survey-based follow-ups that track participation in fitness programs and dietary changes over time

Applications can describe how Blooming Health makes large-scale lifestyle intervention programs operationally feasible in resource-constrained rural settings.

Blooming Health partnered with the City of Yonkers Office for Aging (OFA) and Montgomery County OFA to streamline communication, improve service accessibility, and enhance nutrition programs for older adults. They were able to serve more meals, collect real-time feedback on meal quality, food security, and service satisfaction, and more!

Workforce Development & Provider Support (7.25% of Technical Score)

Talent Recruitment (3.75%)

Building a strong local workforce requires ongoing engagement with community members. Blooming Health supports recruitment initiatives through:

• Welcome message automation for new program participants, including career pathway information

• Targeted broadcasts to specific demographic groups (students, caregivers, veterans) about healthcare career opportunities

• Label-based segmentation that enables precise targeting of individuals who've expressed interest in healthcare careers

• Multi-program coordination that connects educational institutions, healthcare facilities, and workforce development initiatives

Rural Provider Strategic Partnerships (3.75%)

This factor rewards facilities joining clinically integrated networks. Blooming Health facilitates such partnerships by:

• Enabling coordinated patient outreach across multiple healthcare facilities within a network

• Standardizing communication workflows that can be shared across partner organizations

• Supporting care coordination through referral tracking between network members

• Providing unified reporting that demonstrates network-wide impact

Chautauqua County Office for Aging Services struggles to reach older adults in their rural area. They partnered with Blooming Health and were able to improve their program participation and support thousands in their community better than ever before, without additional resources.

Care Delivery Innovation (11.25% of Technical Score)

Medicaid Provider Payment Incentives (3.75%)

Value-based care initiatives require systematic patient engagement and outcomes tracking. Blooming Health enables this through:

• Automated appointment reminders that reduce no-shows and improve care continuity

• Post-visit surveys that capture patient-reported outcomes and satisfaction metrics

• Medication adherence messaging that supports chronic disease management protocols

• Care gap alerts that notify patients about overdue preventive services

Applications can quantify how these capabilities support value-based payment models by improving quality metrics and reducing avoidable utilization.

Individuals Dually Eligible for Medicare and Medicaid (3.75%)

Supporting dual-eligible enrollment in integrated plans requires sustained outreach and education. Blooming Health provides:

• Educational broadcast campaigns explaining integrated plan benefits in plain language

• Multi-touchpoint enrollment support via voice calls, text messages, and emails

• Language accessibility through automatic translation to reach diverse populations

• Follow-up surveys to assess understanding and address enrollment barriers

EMS Integration (3.75%)

Seamless EMS integration with the healthcare ecosystem benefits from:

• Rapid broadcast capabilities for community paramedicine program outreach

• Referral workflows that connect EMS encounters with follow-up primary care

• Patient education messaging about appropriate EMS utilization

• Feedback collection from patients who interact with EMS services

Technology & Data Infrastructure (11.25% of Technical Score)

Remote Care Services (3.75%)

Expanding telehealth access requires more than clinical technology—it requires getting patients connected. Blooming Health supports this through:

• Telehealth appointment reminders with clear connection instructions

• Technology assistance broadcasts that help patients prepare for virtual visits

• Post-telehealth surveys that identify barriers and technical issues

• Multi-language support that ensures non-English speakers can access remote care

Data Infrastructure (3.75%)

Enhanced data infrastructure initiatives are strengthened by Blooming Health's:

• Robust reporting dashboard that tracks communication reach and engagement across populations

• Downloadable user lists that support population health analytics

• Integration capabilities with existing health information systems

• Bulk upload functionality that enables efficient data management at scale

Blooming Health as Consumer-Facing Technology

The platform qualifies as consumer health technology by delivering personalized health communications, appointment reminders, wellness surveys, and chronic disease management support directly to rural residents—without requiring smartphones or internet access.

Blooming Health can send:

• Educational broadcast campaigns introducing patient portals, telehealth platforms, and health monitoring apps

• Step-by-step guidance messaging that walks users through technology setup and usage

• Survey-based barrier assessment identifying obstacles to technology adoption in rural communities

• Targeted follow-up support based on individual technical literacy levels and comfort with digital tools

State applications can describe how Blooming Health serves as a bridge technology, meeting rural families where they are today while building capacity for more advanced digital health engagement tomorrow.

See this case study where one rural county needed to send surveys during a critical weather emergency. Through automated workflows they could reach people faster to identify individuals needing urgent assistance, such as those requiring oxygen or dialysis after power outages. 

The question isn't whether technology matters for RHTP success. The question is whether your current infrastructure can deliver on the initiatives that will maximize your score.

Blooming Health provides the technological foundation that turns ambitious applications into deliverable reality. By enabling systematic patient engagement, care coordination, preventive outreach, and data-driven population health management, the platform directly supports higher scores across multiple RHTP evaluation factors.

As the November 5th application deadline approaches, organizations with robust communication infrastructure in place will be positioned to submit stronger applications—and more importantly, to rapidly implement initiatives once funding is awarded.

Meet with us today to get a demo.