Rural Spotlight

Whitepaper: How Orthopedic + MSK Practices are Optimizing Coding and Improving Cash Flow

January 9, 2026

Whitepaper: How Orthopedic + MSK Practices are Optimizing Coding and Improving Cash Flow

Orthopedic and musculoskeletal (MSK) practices are entering a new era of revenue cycle pressure – one defined by coding complexity, chronic staffing shortages, and rapidly shifting payer requirements. These forces are converging to create a perfect storm: rising denial rates, widening reimbursement delays, and growing strain on already over-extended coding teams.

This new report highlights how orthopedic and MSK groups are turning to technology to boost accuracy, improve cash flow, and build more resilient coding operations.

Learn from orthopedic practices that are seeing results – including:

  • A reduction in claim lag from 7 – 10 days to just 2-3 days,
  • A 50% – 100% increase in coder productivity with AI-enabled workflows, and
  • Reduced overhead with up to a 30% drop in coding headcount.

Click Here to Download the Whitepaper

Webinar: From Repetitive to Real-Time: AI that Lightens the Back-Office Load, January 22

January 9, 2026

Webinar: From Repetitive to Real-Time: AI that Lightens the Back-Office Load, January 22

While clinical AI gets the spotlight, back-office operations are quietly being reshaped by automation, data intelligence and workflow tools that ease burdens across finance, HR, administration and more.

The result? Leading health systems are improving efficiency, reducing burnout and building a more sustainable workforce behind the scenes.

This session explores how AI is actively solving pain points in non-clinical areas, unlocking time, insights and morale. From automating the repetitive to providing real-time insights, AI is helping back-office teams work smarter and stay longer.

Key takeaways:

  • Where AI is driving immediate gains in operational efficiency and workforce morale,
  • Case-based lessons on easing burnout and improving retention, and
  • How to strategically apply AI without adding complexity or cost.

Cost: Free

When: Thursday, January 22, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

Webinar: POCUS Without Chaos: How Health Systems Build Workflows That Actually Work, January 27

January 9, 2026

Webinar: POCUS Without Chaos: How Health Systems Build Workflows That Actually Work, January 27

Point-of-care ultrasound programs often grow faster than the workflows supporting them. Images live in silos. Exams go undocumented. Billing is missed and leaders lack a clear view of ROI.

Health systems like Baylor Scott & White Health, Yale New Haven Health and University of Maryland Medical System have taken a different approach – treating POCUS as an enterprise workflow, not a side project.

In this live session, system ultrasound, emergency medicine and IT leaders share how they’ve built scalable POCUS programs that improve documentation, reduce risk and surface real financial impact across departments.

Learnings Include:

  • How undocumented or unbilled POCUS exams quietly erode revenue
  • The governance, IT and clinical decisions required to scale POCUS beyond individual departments.
  • What successful systemwide deployments get right – from integration strategy to ongoing support.

Cost: Free

When: Tuesday, January 27, 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

Webinar: Behavioral Health’s Breaking Point: New Survey Reveals What Leaders are Prioritizing Next, January 28

January 9, 2026

Webinar: Behavioral Health’s Breaking Point: New Survey Reveals What Leaders are Prioritizing Next, January 28

Burnout, denials, workforce gaps – behavioral health leaders are under pressure from all sides. With demand climbing and capacity stretched, the sector faces a defining moment.

This live webinar unpacks results from a nationwide Becker’s – NextGen Healthcare survey of senior behavioral health executives, surfacing where leaders are focused for 2026, and how technology, automation and AI are driving sustainable change.

Join to explore what forward-thinking organizations are doing to protect revenue, reduce clinician overload and scale resilient, tech-enabled care models.

You’ll Learn:

  • Why workforce sustainability ranks as the top priority heading into 2026 – and the strategies leaders are using to reduce burnout and boost retention.
  • What the data says about documentation burden, and how augmented intelligence is helping clinicians reclaim lost time.
  • The biggest sources of revenue leakage in behavioral health, from denials to coding complexity, and where automation is strengthening integrity across the board.
  • How leading organizations are structuring AI governance to safely scale use beyond pilots.

Cost: Free

When: Wednesday, January 28, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

Webinar: Federal Rural Definitions, January 22

January 9, 2026

Webinar: Federal Rural Definitions, January 22

In 2025, many agencies across the federal government released new data allowing users to understand how rural populations and areas are changing. This webinar will provide a brief history of rural population over time and review how the term “rural” is defined.

Presenters from the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) will focus on how FORHP compiles information from the Census Bureau, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Services (ERS) to identify rural areas in the United States for rural health grant program eligibility. Changes to rural areas, as identified by FORHP with their most recent September 2025 data release, will be highlighted.

Cost: Free

When: Thursday, January 22, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

Webinar: From Insights to Action: Identifying Needs for Rural Substance Use Disorder Training Through Professional Listening Sessions, January 14

January 9, 2026

Webinar: From Insights to Action: Identifying Needs for Rural Substance Use Disorder Training Through Professional Listening Sessions, January 14

This two-part presentation from the Center of Rural Addiction at the University of Vermont (UVM CORA) will:

  • Share findings about what helps and hinders SUD treatment in rural communities, and
  • Introduce the UVM CORA Opioid and Substance Use Treatment Training Scholarship Program – an intensive, no-cost, two-day training initiative tailored for rural primary care practices.

Learning Objectives:

  • Identify methodologies used in listening sessions to explore facilitators and barriers to providing SUD services in rural communities in Northern New England.
  • Summarize practical insights and lessons learned from listening sessions across diverse rural settings.
  • Describe the structure, objectives, and intended impact of UVM CORA’s Opioid & Substance Use Treatment Training Scholarship Program.
  • Explain how feedback from health care professionals has shaped program design and informed broader strategies to support rural primary care teams.

Cost: Free

When: Wednesday, January 14, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

CMS Proposes Changes to Health Plan Price Transparency – Comment by February 23

January 9, 2026

CMS Proposes Changes to Health Plan Price Transparency – Comment by February 23

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), working with the Department of Labor and the Department of the Treasury (collectively, the Departments), requests public input on proposed changes to the payer price transparency regulations intended to make pricing information easier to access for participants, beneficiaries and enrollees, and to improve the consistency and reliability of public pricing disclosures.

Currently, most group health plans and issuers of group or individual health insurance post pricing information for covered items and services, which third parties, such as researchers and app developers, can use to help consumers better understand the costs associated with their health care.

Proposals include reducing the number and size of the machine-readable files that health plans post online, adding data elements to provide context around the data being reported, and improving the ease of locating and downloading the machine-readable files.

Click Here to Read More

Research Alert: Availability of Hospital-Based Obstetric Services in the United States by County, 2010-2023: A State-by-State Report

January 9, 2026

Research Alert: Availability of Hospital-Based Obstetric Services in the United States by County, 2010-2023: A State-by-State Report

Between 2010 and 2023, there have been continued declines in access to hospital-based obstetric services in both rural and urban U.S. communities. During this time, 269of the 3,144 counties (8.6%) in the U.S. lost all hospital based obstetric services; 26 of the counties that lost these services (21 of which were rural) experienced a recent loss, between 2022 and 2023. These losses have resulted in 60% of rural counties and 38% of urban counties not having any hospital-based obstetric services by 2023. Access to obstetric care is especially limited in less populated rural counties. Among rural noncore counties (counties without a town population >10,000), 148 counties (11%) lost all hospital based obstetric services between 2010 and 2023(15 of these losses occurred recently, between 2022 and 2023), resulting in only 24% of rural noncore counties having any hospital-based obstetric services by 2023.

Additionally, there is variation across states in county-level hospital based obstetric services availability. Between 2010 and 2023, there were nine states where more than ten counties lost all hospital-based obstetric services. In Iowa, 20 counties lost all hospital-based obstetric services during this time. In the most recent year of data available (between 2022 and 2023), obstetric service losses at the county level were concentrated in California, Idaho, Indiana, Minnesota, and Nebraska, which lost services in tow counties each. Illinois and Kansas lost services in three counties (all of which were rural), and Ohio experience recent losses in four counties (two of which were rural). Only one state (North Dakota) recently gained hospital-based obstetric services in 2023 in a county without those services in 2022. This gain was in a rural noncore county.

Click Here to Read Full Brief

Whitepaper: Why Credentialing will Move from the Back Office to the Boardroom in 2026

January 9, 2026

Whitepaper: Why Credentialing will Move from the Back Office to the Boardroom in 2026

Static credentialing can no longer keep up with regulatory complexity. As workforce and vendor access expand, periodic checks are no longer enough and hospitals are increasingly exposed.

In 2026, credentialing won’t be a checkbox. It will be a board-level issue, directly tied to operational stability, liability exposure, and even insurability.

This report outlines five predictions shaping the next era of credentialing and why continuous monitoring and AI-driven verification will soon become standard.

You’ll learn:

  • Why insurers will start requiring credentialing programs as part of cyber coverage,
  • How AI is exposing credential fraud and closing long-exploited access gaps, and
  • What CFOs, CISOs and compliance leaders must align on to reduce risk and cost.

Click Here to Download Whitepaper

Webinar: From Fragmented Fixes to Systemwide Control: UVA Health’s Approach to Drug Shortage Management and Supply Chain Transformation, January 27

January 9, 2026

Webinar: From Fragmented Fixes to Systemwide Control: UVA Health’s Approach to Drug Shortage Management and Supply Chain Transformation, January 27

With over 200 active drug shortages in 2025, supply chain disruptions have become a daily operational threat for hospital pharmacies. But UVA Health is showing that health systems don’t have to accept chaos as the norm.

By partnering on a multi-pronged strategy involving AI-powered analytics, smart workflow automation and ready-to-use compounded sterile products, UVA Health built a more controlled, resilient and patient-centered drug supply approach.

Join UVA Health leaders to learn how they transformed their response from reactive to proactive.

You’ll gain insights on:

  • UVA’s shift from fragmented response to end-to-end shortage management,
  • How embedded analytics and automation reduce pharmacy workload and variability, and
  • Key lessons from UVA’s supply chain evolution and how to adapt them fast.

Cost: Free

When: Tuesday, January 27, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register