Rural Spotlight

Whitepaper: Cyber Resilience is Now a Patient Safety Imperative

February 18, 2026

Whitepaper: Cyber Resilience is Now a Patient Safety Imperative

Cyberattacks and system outages are no longer rare events. For healthcare organizations, they are recurring threats that interrupt care, strain staff and ultimately undermine patient safety.

This report draws on the perspectives of clinical informatics and technology leaders to explore why prevention alone is no longer enough. It examines the growing gap between cybersecurity defenses and true operational readiness, and why many organizations remain vulnerable even after investing heavily in security tools.

Key takeaways include:

  • Strengthening resilience, as the need to connect systems brings new operational risk,
  • How health systems like M Health Fairview prepare for extended downtime scenarios, and
  • Why leadership alignment across clinical, IT and operational teams is critical.

Click Here to Download Whitepaper

Whitepaper: The Critical Balance: How Hospital Medicine Aligns Patient Acuity and System Capacity to Protect Access to Care

February 18, 2026

Whitepaper: The Critical Balance: How Hospital Medicine Aligns Patient Acuity and System Capacity to Protect Access to Care

American hospitals face an unprecedented convergence of crises threatening patient access to care. Hospital occupancy has surged to 75% – an 11-percentage-point increase from pre-pandemic levels – and is projected to reach a critical 85% threshold by 20232. At the same time, observation patient volumes continue to rise while inpatient days decline, and health care faces a projected shortage of 187,130 physicians by 2037.

These challenges are not isolated problems – they are interconnected symptoms of a health care system struggling to balance two fundamental imperatives: acuity management and capacity management.

In this white paper, Rodolphe Taby, MD, Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Hospital and Critical Care Medicine at SCP Health, examines how hospital medicine can transform these converging crises into opportunities through strategic leadership at the intersection of clinical operations and system capacity.

Read to learn more about how hospitalists can orchestrate the critical balance between patient acuity and system capacity including:

  • Length of stay optimization that creates “virtual capacity” without construction costs or additional staffing,
  • Standardized observation medicine pathways that reduce care variation while improving patient throughput,
  • Strategic workforce deployment that aligns clinician skillsets and scopes of practice with patient needs, and
  • The virtuous cycle where better acuity management drives optimized capacity management, and vice versa.

Click Here to Download Whitepaper

Webinar: Protecting Revenue in 2026: Strategies to Safeguard Cash Flow Across the Revenue Cycle, February 26

February 18, 2026

Webinar: Protecting Revenue in 2026: Strategies to Safeguard Cash Flow Across the Revenue Cycle, February 26

As Medicaid eligibility fluctuates, Medicare reimbursement tightens and coverage rules evolve, health systems are seeing more denials, underpayments and avoidable write-offs in 2026.

This webinar brings together revenue cycle leaders from Scripps Health, Temple Health, UC Davis Health and Vandalia Health for a discussion on how organizations are reinforcing both front-end and back-end revenue cycle processes to protect revenue heading into 2026.

Key takeaways include:

  • Reducing eligibility-related denials amid Medicaid churn,
  • Preventing self-pay misclassification through better insurance discovery,
  • Identifying Medicare underpayments and improving payment accuracy, and
  • Building a stronger revenue integrity foundation for 2026 planning.

Cost: Free

When: Thursday, February 26, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

MRHA Webinar: Mobile Medical Simulation, April 23

February 18, 2026

MRHA Webinar: Mobile Medical Simulation, April 23

Join MRHA for an introduction to the MU School of Medicine’s Mobile Medical Simulation Lab, a free training and education resource designed to support healthcare providers across Missouri.

This session will highlight how the mobile lab brings high-quality, hands-on clinical simulation directly to rural and underserved communities-eliminating travel barriers and expanding access to critical skill-building opportunities.

Participants will learn how the Mobile Medical Simulation Lab operates, what training options are available, and how organizations can request the lab for on-site education. This webinar is ideal for providers seeking practical, accessible ways to strengthen clinical competencies within their teams.

Cost: Free

When: Thursday, April 23, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

MRHA Webinar: SUD Program Implementation with MO Ozarks Community Health, February 26

February 18, 2026

MRHA Webinar: SUD Program Implementation with MO Ozarks Community Health, February 26

Join Jennifer Heinlein and the SUD team with MO Ozarks Community Health to learn about their exciting SUD Program.

Participants will hear the benefits and parameters of the program, as well as how clients can access these services.

The ideal audience is anyone interested in implementation of a program and making connections.

Cost: Free

When: Thursday, February 26, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

Whitepaper: The Revenue Cycle Automation Library – 15 Solutions

February 18, 2026

Whitepaper: The Revenue Cycle Automation Library – 15 Solutions

Denials are rising. Work is piling up. And hiring more staff isn’t a sustainable solution.

For today’s revenue leaders, small optimizations aren’t enough. It takes a new model – one where AI agents, robots and staff operate in sync to handle complex, high-volume tasks at speed.

That’s what this automation library delivers: 15 real-world examples of agentic automation driving measurable results across the revenue cycle, from eligibility and scheduling to denials and cash posting.

Learnings include:

  • How to reduce eligibility errors and prior authorization delays with agentic automation,
  • How to reclaim revenue with better edits, faster appeals and fewer manual steps, and
  • How to free staff to focus on patients and not portals, paperwork or rework.

Click Here to Download Whitepaper

MRHA Webinar: Cannabis in Healthcare, March 12

February 18, 2026

MRHA Webinar: Cannabis in Healthcare, March 12

Healthcare professionals continue to be reluctant to discuss cannabis despite increasing legalization in 40 states and the District of Columbia including Missouri. The presentation will address the legal aspects administrators face or have concerns with because of historical and current stigma and misinformation.

Additionally, healthcare professionals, students, and educators will learn the basics of the endocannabinoid system and its interaction with cannabis and other complementary and alternative therapies that over 30% of adults and almost 20% of pediatrics in the U.S. currently use.

Cost: Free

When: Thursday, March 12, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

MRHA Webinar: Needs Assessment and Statewide Data, February 19

February 18, 2026

MRHA Webinar: Needs Assessment and Statewide Data, February 19

Join Libby Trammell, LCSW, for an engaging and accessible walkthrough of the most recent statewide Rural Health Needs Assessment. This session will highlight key data trends impacting rural Missouri, from workforce shortages and access-to-care challenges to emerging demographic shifts shaping community health.

Participants will learn to identify the leading causes of death in rural communities and explore how these patterns reflect broader health disparities. The webinar will also break down the concept of Years of Potential Life Lost (YPLL), explaining what it measures, why it matters, and how it can guide planning, funding priorities, and local advocacy.

Who Should Attend:

  • Healthcare researchers,
  • Advocates,
  • Workers seeking to strengthen their understanding of rural health data for planning, communication, and improvement efforts.

Cost: Free

When: Thursday, February 19, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

Healthcare Readiness Report – A Primer for 2026

February 18, 2026

Healthcare Readiness Report – A Primer for 2026

Health systems are investing heavily in AI, cloud and digital transformation. Yet many lack the foundational readiness required to make those investments pay off. Nearly two-thirds of healthcare leaders say their IT is not ready to manage future risk, even as AI reshapes care delivery, workflows and workforce expectations.

This report explores why readiness gaps persist and how they directly impact clinician capacity, innovation speed and patient outcomes.

Based on a global survey of healthcare leaders and real-world infrastructure data, this report reveals how technology debt, fragmented cloud strategies and trust gaps are holding organizations back.

Learnings include:

  • Why clinicians are losing up to 23 days per year to data inefficiencies,
  • Where infrastructure and cloud decisions are quietly increasing risk, and
  • How leading organizations are aligning AI, infrastructure and workforce trust to prepare for what’s next.

Click Here to Download Report

Webinar: How SSM Health is Building Workforce Resilience Through Education, February 23

February 18, 2026

Webinar: How SSM Health is Building Workforce Resilience Through Education, February 23

As clinical and operational complexity grows, health system leaders are rethinking how education can strengthen their workforce for current and future demands.

At SSM Health, education has become a systemwide lever for workforce stability, not a standalone perk.

In this webinar, leaders from SSM Health will outline how they are using education as a long-term workforce strategy. Through upfront tuition support, hybrid clinical training models and structured leadership development, the system is strengthening retention, expanding career mobility and preparing future-ready leaders.

This candid discussion moves beyond theory to explore what it takes to operationalize education at scale and align it with workforce, clinical and organizational goals.

What you will learn:

  • How education programs can address workforce instability at the system level,
  • Practical approaches to improving retention through career mobility,
  • How clinical education models are evolving to meet workforce demand, and
  • Executive considerations for sustaining workforce investments over time.

Cost: Free

When: Monday, February 23, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register