Rural Spotlight

Whitepaper: New Guide Tackles Connected Chronic Conditions Across Care Teams

September 22, 2025

Whitepaper: New Guide Tackles Connected Chronic Conditions Across Care Teams

About 1 in 3 U.S. adults have at least three risk factors for cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome – a condition rooted in the overlap of heart disease, kidney disease and metabolic disorders like Type 2 diabetes and obesity.

Yet care delivery remains fragmented, with primary and specialty teams often working in silos.

The American Heart Association’s CKM Health Implementation Guide offers a practical framework to help clinicians detect risk earlier, align workflows and deliver more person-centered care. No matter your specialty, this guide shows how to operationalize the science and design care around whole-patient needs.

Download to Learn:

  • How to stage and manage overlapping heart, kidney and metabolic conditions from prevention to progression,
  • What to add – and remove – from workflows: waist circumference, kidney screening, social risk, and
  • How to implement a CKM coordinator model to connect care across specialties.

Click Here to Download Whitepaper

Health Center Facility Loan Guarantee Program

September 22, 2025

Health Center Facility Loan Guarantee Program

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Health Center Facility Loan Guarantee Program facilitates access to capital funding and reduces financing costs for health center by guaranteeing up to 80% of financing needed to support capital infrastructure projects.

After approving a loan guarantee, HRSA monitors the loan repayment status and assesses the operational/financial viability of the health center during the life of the loan.

Funding may be used for the construction, expansion, alteration, renovation, and modernization of health center medical facilities.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Health centers interested in applying should email LGProgram@hrsa.gov and provide the following information:

  • Health Center name and H80 Award Number,
  • Anticipated project scope,
  • Type of construction activity (new construction, renovation, new site, replacement facility),
  • Total project cost,
  • Financing needs and potential lender(s), and
  • Timeline and status of project planning and financing

Click Here to Learn More

RHIhub Article: Instead of Selling, Some Rural Hospitals Band Together to Survive

September 22, 2025

RHIhub Article: Instead of Selling, Some Rural Hospitals Band Together to Survive

This article profiles the Rough Rider Network, a collaborative effort of 22 independent rural healthcare facilities known as a Clinical Integration Network (CIN).

Located in North Dakota, these facilities are working together to save money and improve care across all facilities.

Click Here to Read Full Article

RHIhub Article: Broadening Access to Minimally Invasive Surgery Could Narrow Rural-Urban Health Gaps

September 22, 2025

RHIhub Article: Broadening Access to Minimally Invasive Surgery Could Narrow Rural-Urban Health Gaps

This article summarizes recent research findings that rural residents are more likely to experience poor outcomes compared to urban residents following surgery for colon cancer. Greater access to minimally invasive surgery MIS for rural patients is identified as a solution for improving surgery outcomes.

The article also discusses challenges with expanding access to MIS.

Click Here to Read More

On-Demand Webinar: the AHA’s Telehealth Certification: Key Details and How to Prepare

September 22, 2025

On-Demand Webinar: the AHA’s Telehealth Certification: Key Details and How to Prepare

The Certified Professional by the American Heart Association (CPAHA) Telehealth designation is more than a credential – it’s a career catalyst. But many telehealth professionals lack a clear roadmap to prepare and succeed.

Join Carly Brown, PharmD, a clinical pharmacist at the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s Center for Telehealth, for a candid conversation on what it really takes to prepare for and pass the CPAHA-Telehealth exam. She’ll share her certification journey, study strategies and lessons learned along the way.

What You’ll Learn:

  • How to approach each stage of the CPAHA-Telehealth certification process,
  • Common mistakes and how to avoid them during preparation and testing, and
  • Key resources and study strategies that actually work.

Cost: Free

When: This webinar is on-demand and can be viewed at your convenience

Click Here to access webinar

New FMT Resource: Sustaining Rural Labor & Delivery Programs

September 19, 2025

New FMT Resource: Sustaining Rural Labor & Delivery Programs

Over the past decade, hundreds of rural hospitals have stopped offering Labor & Delivery services, and many remaining programs face financial and operational challenges. Drawing on case studies from previous Stroudwater Associates engagements, this resource details three strategies that may bring a Labor & Delivery program closer to sustainability and prevent unnecessary closures in rural areas.

These strategies ensure that Critical Access Hospitals and rural hospitals understand how to properly:

  • Allocate costs and statistics in the Medicare Cost Report to maximize the value created by the Labor & Delivery program,
  • Evaluate the contribution margin of the program, and
  • Leverage other opportunities, such as partnerships and family practice obstetricians, to enhance the efficiency of the program.

This resource can be used by hospitals to support informed decision-making and optimize resource allocation to improve financial sustainability and ensure continued access to Labor & Delivery services in rural communities.

Click Here for Sustaining Rural Labor & Delivery Programs Resource

Webinar: Early Capital Planning Phases, September 24

September 18, 2025

Webinar: Early Capital Planning Phases, September 24

Is your health center considering a renovation, expansion, or new site? The success of any capital project is determined long before the first blueprint is drawn.

The early planning phases -where strategic vision meets operational and financial reality – are the most crucial. This webinar will provide your leadership team with a proven framework to navigate this complex process, align your project with community need, and build a compelling case for funders.

Join Capital Link, a national nonprofit with over 30 years of experience guiding health centers through $1.6 billion in successful capital projects, for this essential deep dive into early-stage planning.

What You Will Learn:

In this actionable session, our experts will guide you through the sequential steps of early project planning:

  • Strategic Alignment:
    • How to ensure your capital project is driven by your mission and informed by a robust, board-led strategic plan, as required by HRSA.
  • Market Justification:
    • Learn how to use data from UDS, EHB Forms, and market mapping tools to define your service area, identify unmet need, and quantitatively justify expansion.
  • Operational Assessment:
    • Methods to evaluate your current operations, staffing, and workflows to forecast future needs and avoid simply recreating existing bottlenecks in a new space.
  • Financial Readiness:
    • How to assess your organization’s financial capacity and debt readiness to undertake a capital project sustainably.
  • The Functional Program:
    • An introduction to translating your operational needs into a preliminary space plan – the essential document that guides architects and funders.

This webinar is designed for health center leaders and teams involved in strategic growth planning, including:

  • CEOs, COOs, and CFOs
  • Board Members
  • Facilities and Operations Directors
  • Project Managers and
  • Development and Strategy Staff

Cost: Free

When: Wednesday, September 24, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

New Resource: Telehealth for Nutrition Care and Services

September 18, 2025

New Resource: Telehealth for Nutrition Care and Services

Tele-nutrition enables providers to deliver personalized nutrition care to patients using innovative telehealth technologies.

Explore the latest tools and strategies for effective use of telehealth when providing nutrition care.

This National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, share this tip sheet with your patients so they can see how telehealth helps people of all ages get nutrition care and services from home.

Click Here to see the Latest Tools and Strategies for Telehealth Nutrition Services

Click Here to see Childhood Obesity Tip Sheet

New FMT Product: Rural Resource: Availability of Obstetric Simulation Training by State

September 16, 2025

New FMT Product: Rural Resource: Availability of Obstetric Simulation Training by State

The Flex Monitoring Team (FMT) has released a new product, Rural Resource: Availability of Obstetric Simulation Training by State. Obstetric simulation training is one-way clinical health professionals can maintain skills, which is of particular importance for rural hospitals with low birth volumes and for rural hospitals that do not have obstetric un8its but need to remain prepared for obstetric emergencies.

This environmental scan includes a list of obstetric simulation trainings by state as well as national and regional offerings, Fifteen trainings identified have a specific rural focus, and each training includes a link to the program, a description, the intended audience, and whether the training includes a mobile unit.

Critical Access Hospitals can use this resource to identify available trainings in their state or neighboring states, foster new partnerships with organizations offering simulation training, or use as examples of rural-specific training programs.

Click Here to View Resource

 

Whitepaper: CMUs are Cutting Waste, Boosting Safety: Results From 3 Health Systems

September 16, 2025

Whitepaper: CMUs are Cutting Waste, Boosting Safety: Results From 3 Health Systems

Many hospitals still rely on outdated telemetry setups, overworked nurses doing “drive-by” checks, or systems flooded with 350+ daily alarms per patient.

These models lead to delays, over-monitoring, alarm fatigue and compromised safety.

This report shows why leading systems are rethinking the model with centralized monitoring units (CMUs) that scale across hospitals and support smarter staffing.

Key takeaways include:

  • The CMU model to reduce excess telemetry systemwide by 10%,
  • How to save 8 hours/day with technology, and
  • Health First’s approach to buying new technology and creating savings.

Cost: Free

Click Here to Download Whitepaper