Rural Spotlight

Whitepaper: 20 Criteria Hospital Leaders Should Use to Evaluate Telepsychiatry

April 20, 2026

Whitepaper: 20 Criteria Hospital Leaders Should Use to Evaluate Telepsychiatry

Hospitals are under increasing pressure to expand behavioral health access while managing emergency department congestion, inpatient capacity and limited psychiatric coverage.

Many organizations have adopted telepsychiatry to reduce boarding and improve access, yet leaders often struggle to evaluate which partners can meet hospital-level standards for quality, reliability and integration. Without a clear framework, critical gaps in credentialing, response times or workflows can be missed.

This whitepaper offers a practical checklist outlining 20 criteria to guide telepsychiatry partner evaluations. It helps hospital leaders move beyond surface features to assess long-term clinical, operational and financial fit.

Key takeaways include:

  • How virtual behavioral health services can improve access and reduce ED bottlenecks,
  • Quality, credentialing and governance criteria leaders should assess,
  • Operational and technology requirements that support timely consults, and
  • Reporting and financial considerations that impact sustainability.

Click Here to Register

Webinar: The Future of Clinical Judgment: Keeping Care Human-Centric in the AI Era, May 13

April 20, 2026

Webinar: The Future of Clinical Judgment: Keeping Care Human-Centric in the AI Era, May 13

AI is advancing rapidly across healthcare, but scale without trust can weaken clinical judgment rather than strengthen it.

Health systems are being flooded with AI tools promising efficiency, margin improvement and relief from clinician burnout. Early adopters are already reporting progress, including reduced documentation burden. Early adopters are already reporting progress, including reduced documentation burden and improved staff satisfaction.

Still, many leaders face a difficult question: What does human-centric AI actually look like in practice?

In this live panel discussion, chief informatics and technology leaders from Cedars-Sinai, Vituity, Sayvant, and more will examine how AI can elevate – not dilute – clinical decision-making.

This conversation will focus on the operational realities leaders face today, including:

  • How health systems are developing governance frameworks to guide responsible AI adoption,
  • Strategies organizations are using to scale AI while maintaining clinician trust and oversight, and
  • How leaders are measuring outcomes and impact while keeping clinicians at the center of care.

Cost: Free

When: Wednesday, May 13, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

 

Webinar: Escaping Pilot Purgatory: A Framework for Scaling Agentic AI in Healthcare Organizations, April 30

April 20, 2026

Webinar: Escaping Pilot Purgatory: A Framework for Scaling Agentic AI in Healthcare Organizations, April 30

Agentic AI is a board-level priority for most healthcare organizations, but whether you are still identifying where to start or trying to move a stalled pilot forward, the path to measurable results looks the same.

This session introduces a practical three-part framework for moving from concept to enterprise-wide deployment: a strategic blueprint to identify and prioritize the right workflows, an enterprise architecture that builds on technologies you already have, and a continuous optimization loop to protect and grow the investment.

Using real healthcare workflows including claims processing, prior authorization, and fax management, you will see how organizations redesign their operations and the roles within them, rather than simply digitize them.

You will leave with:

  • What differentiates agentic AI from traditional and generative AI in healthcare operations,
  • How to identify the right workflows for agentic AI and what it takes to move a pilot into full deployment, and
  • How leading health systems are redesigning roles with agentic AI, not just processes.

Cost: Free

When: Thursday, April 30, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

On-Demand Webinar: From Pilot to Production: Engineering Virtual Health Programs Built to Scale

April 20, 2026

On-Demand Webinar: From Pilot to Production: Engineering Virtual Health Programs Built to Scale

Most virtual health pilots fail not because of the technology – but because of how they’re architected from the start. Without defined exit criteria, integration benchmarks, or measurable system impact, even promising pilots stall before reaching production.

This session brings together technology and clinical informatics leaders from Carilion Clinic, Keck Medicine of USC, Michigan Medicine, and Nuvance/Northwell Health to share how they’re building pilot frameworks that translate into enterprise-grade, scalable programs.

Insights include:

  • How leading systems engineer pilot exit criteria, KPIs, and scale readiness checkpoints,
  • Strategies for mapping workflow automation wins to measurable labor + cost reduction, and
  • Lessons from pilots that achieved full-system deployment and measurable ROI.

Click Here to Download this On-Demand Webinar

Webinar: Beyond Geography: Scalable Care Models for Access, Workforce and Sustainability, April 29

April 20, 2026

Webinar: Beyond Geography: Scalable Care Models for Access, Workforce and Sustainability, April 29

Rural access challenges are no longer defined by distance. They are driven by workforce shortages, capacity constraints and the need to deliver care differently with limited resources. As demand rises, health systems are rethinking traditional models to extend access without new brick-and-mortar expansion.

In this discussion, leaders from Bon Secours Mercy Health, HonorHealth, Sutter Health, university of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and University of Maryland Medical System will share how they are rebalancing where and how care is delivered. Panelists will outline strategies for deploying distributed, community-based, home-based and virtual models that expand clinical capacity, ease clinician strain and improve access – moving beyond pilots to sustainable, scalable impact.

Attendees will learn:

  • The top drivers of today’s rural care gap and early warning signs of strain,
  • How leading systems are redefining where care happens,
  • Ways to extend workforce capacity while protecting quality and retention, and
  • The virtual capabilities required to support clinical decision-making and reduce unnecessary transfers.

Cost: Free

When: Wednesday, April 29, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

Whitepaper: Cyber Resilience is Now a Patient Safety Imperative

April 20, 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

eBook: How Health Systems Can Evaluate AI Solutions to Transform Primary Care Delivery

April 20, 2026

eBook: How Health Systems Can Evaluate AI Solutions to Transform Primary Care Delivery

As AI becomes more ingrained in healthcare operations, health system leaders must evaluate solutions with the same rigor applied to clinical and financial decisions.

A Health System’s Guide to Evaluating AI Solutions provides a primary care-first framework for assessing AI based on clinical relevance, workflow integration, scalability, and governance.

Developed by Lumeris clinical and strategy leaders, the guide helps executives make confident, defensible AI decisions that support long-term care transformation. It offers practical guidance for moving from experimentation to enterprise impact.

Key Learning Points:

  • How to evaluate AI solutions using a structured framework aligned to primary care delivery and health system strategy,
  • The core criteria leaders should apply when assessing AI vendors, including clinical impact, operational fit, scalability, and governance,
  • What separates scalable, enterprise-ready AI from point solutions that fail to deliver sustained value,
  • How thoughtfully deployed AI can help strengthen primary care capacity and help improve outcomes, and
  • How to evaluate AI vendors with a useful takeaway checklist that has been thoughtfully curated with experts in the space.

Click Here to Download the eBook

Whitepaper: From Denials to Disruption: What 2026 Will Demand of Health Systems in a Payer-Driven Market

April 20, 2026

Whitepaper: From Denials to Disruption: What 2026 Will Demand of Health Systems in a Payer-Driven Market

2025 exposed hard truths: Denials surged. Trust collapsed. And affordability became the dominant barrier to care, not just on the Exchange and among the uninsured, but across Medicare Advantage and commercial plans alike.

This 2026 outlook unpacks the forces reshaping healthcare, from ambient AI and vertical integration to the Medicare Advantage credibility crisis. It’s a tactical guide for health system leaders who don’t want to be caught off guard by another year of payer-driven disruption.

Takeaways include:

  • A breakdown of the top 5 threats to access and affordability in 2026,
  • The shift from payer collaboration to confrontation and what systems are doing about it, and
  • Strategic levers to protect financial sustainability, operational control, and consumer trust.

Click Here to Download the Whitepaper

2026 New NHSC Site Application Site Now Open, Apply by May 19

April 16, 2026

2026 New NHSC Site Application Site Now Open, Apply by May 19

Eligible health care facilities can apply to become NHSC-approved sites.

To be eligible, sites must provide outpatient, comprehensive primary health care services to people located in Health Professional Shortage Areas.

Once approved, you can use your status as an NHSC site to recruit, hire, and retain clinicians.

Attend the NHSC Site Application Point of Contact Webinar on Tuesday, April 14 at 1:00 p.m. E.T. to learn more.

Click Here to Learn More and Apply

Webinar: Sustaining Rural Labor & Delivery Programs, May 4

April 16, 2026

Webinar: Sustaining Rural Labor & Delivery Programs, May 4

Rural hospitals face ongoing financial and operational pressures that have contributed to the closure of many Labor & Delivery programs nationwide. This webinar, hosted by the Flex Monitoring Team (FMT) and presented by Stroudwater, will highlight practical strategies to help rural hospitals assess and strengthen the financial sustainability of these services.

Highlighting key insights from the Sustaining Rural Labor & Delivery Programs brief, this session will cover approaches to improving how costs are tracked and reported, understanding the financial performance of Labor and Delivery services, and identifying opportunities to improve efficiency and partnerships. Attendees will gain actionable insights to support informed decision-making and help maintain access to essential maternity care in rural communities.

Cost: Free

When: Monday, May 4, 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET

Click Here to see Sustaining Rural Labor & Delivery programs brief

Click Here to Register