Rural Spotlight

On-Demand Webinar: The Hidden Barrier to AI: Why Legacy Systems and App Sprawl are Slowing Healthcare Innovation

May 27, 2026

On-Demand Webinar: The Hidden Barrier to AI: Why Legacy Systems and App Sprawl are Slowing Healthcare Innovation

Healthcare organizations are investing heavily in AI and digital innovation – yet many are discovering that legacy systems, redundant applications and fragmented infrastructure are slowing progress. Before scaling AI or advanced analytics, many healthcare IT, digital and compliance leaders are realizing they must address decades of accumulated technical debt.

This session will explore how healthcare IT leaders are approaching application rationalization and legacy modernization as strategic enablers of AI, cloud transformation and operational efficiency. Speakers will share practical approaches for evaluating legacy systems, reducing application sprawl and aligning platforms to support the next generation of healthcare technologies.

Key learning points:

  • Why legacy systems and application sprawl are emerging as major barriers to AI and digital transformation,
  • Practical frameworks for evaluating and rationalizing healthcare application portfolios,
  • How leading health systems are balancing modernization with operational stability,
  • Strategies for aligning infrastructure, security and governance when retiring legacy systems, and
  • Where CIOs should start when building a modern digital foundation for AI

Click Here to Download this On-Demand Webinar

Whitepaper: The Hidden Cost of the Status Quo: Why Healthcare Safety is the Defining Strategic Imperative for 2026

May 27, 2026

Whitepaper: The Hidden Cost of the Status Quo: Why Healthcare Safety is the Defining Strategic Imperative for 2026

When clinicians worry about their safety, the impact reaches far beyond a single incident. Confidence drops, reporting suffers, turnover rises and operational strain spreads across the organization.

This healthcare safety report shows why best-in-class hospitals are treating safety as a strategic priority. It connects worker safety to workforce retention, trust and operational performance, giving leaders a clearer view of what is driving risk and what can improve outcomes.

The findings are drawn from an online survey of 1,014 healthcare employees across clinical, operational and executive roles. The results are hard to ignore – Nearly 85% of survey respondents have personally experienced a safety incident during their careers. More than 20% (1 in 5) have been involved in incidents that escalated to physical violence, and 76% of healthcare workers consider personal safety a daily concern.

One system that adopted connected safety technology saw violent incidents decline by 30% within six months, while incident reporting increased by 50%.

For leaders focused on sustaining care delivery, this report offers a practical look at how proactive safety programs can support both staff protection and organizational performance.

Download the report to learn:

  • How safety affects retention, trust and operational resilience,
  • What front-line trends reveal about workplace violence today,
  • Where proactive safety programs are driving measurable change, and
  • Why reporting culture matters for long-term improvement.

Click Here to Download this Whitepaper

Webinar: Why Dashboards Alone Aren’t Fixing Patient Flow, June 24

May 27, 2026

Webinar: Why Dashboards Alone Aren’t Fixing Patient Flow, June 24

Most hospitals have invested heavily in visibility in the form of dashboards, daily huddle reports, capacity snapshots and more. Yet boarded emergency department patients, delayed discharges and capacity bottlenecks remain stubbornly familiar.

The problem is rarely a lack of data. It is the gap between what the data shows and what teams can act on in time. By the time a daily report surfaces a bottleneck, the bed is already full, the discharge has already slipped, and the ED is already holding patients overnight.

Baptist Health Arkansas decided to close that gap.

Cody Walker, President of Baptist Health Medical Center-North Little Rock, will share how Baptist moved past visibility into action by embedding predictive intelligence and automation into core workflows. The phased, data-driven approach delivered a 25% reduction in avoidable opportunity days and 525 fewer boarded ED patients per month.

Learnings include:

  • Where dashboards fall short and what replaces them,
  • How predictive intelligence and automation cut avoidable delays,
  • The phased model behind Baptist’s measurable throughput gains, and
  • How real-time collaboration changes front-line decision-making.

Cost: Free

When: Wednesday, June 24, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

Webinar: From Alarm Management to Personalized Care: Turning clinical Surveillance Data into Safer Pediatric Long-Term Care, June 25

May 27, 2026

Webinar: From Alarm Management to Personalized Care: Turning clinical Surveillance Data into Safer Pediatric Long-Term Care, June 25

Pediatric long-term residential care demands continuous visibility across dispersed neighborhoods, especially for children moving on and off mechanical ventilation.

Elizabeth Seton Children’s Center expanded ventilator beds in its home-like environment and adopted a customizable clinical surveillance platform integrating ventilator and vital-sign data into near-real-time dashboards and alerts. Personalized alarm limits, smart alert conditions and remote triage help teams cut non-actionable alarms, unnecessary room entries and PPE cycles. Trend reports drive objective, interdisciplinary clinical conversations and tailored interventions for patterns like desaturations or temperature instability, while custom reporting locates ventilators and streamlines preventive maintenance.

ESCC leaders will share practical lessons on governance, customization and resident-centered care.

Key Learning Objectives:

  • Describe how customizable surveillance supports monitoring across dispersed pediatric long-term care, with ventilator data integrated into near-real-time dashboards/alerts.
  • Explain how personalized alarm limits, smart alert logic and remote triage cut non-actionable alarms and room entries while supporting staff efficiency and resident safety.
  • Identify how surveillance reporting and trend reviews drive objective, interdisciplinary clinical conversations and personalized interventions.

Cost: Free

When: Thursday, June 25, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

Continuing Education Webinar: The Rural Stroke Readiness Blueprint: Coordinating Emergency Care, June 9

May 21, 2026

Continuing Education Webinar: The Rural Stroke Readiness Blueprint: Coordinating Emergency Care, June 9

Join the American Heart Association for a continuing education webinar. This program delivers an evidence-based overview of acute ischemic stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage management in rural settings. Designed for rural hospitals, EDs, and EMS teams, the activity focuses on telestroke utilization, streamlined diagnostics, pediatric stroke care, and efficient transfer workflows. Participants will gain practical tools and strategies to improve stroke readiness, guideline adherence, and time-critical decision-making.

Program overview:
Stroke care in rural settings is time‑critical and often complex due to limited resources and longer transfer times. This program provides practical, up‑to‑date guidance to help rural teams quickly recognize and treat both ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes.

Who should attend:
Rural clinicians and care teams, including physicians (MD/DO), PAs, NPs, and nurses involved in emergency, observation, quality improvement, or inpatient stroke care.

A Continuing Education Activity:

The maximum number of hours awarded for this CE is 1.5 credit hours

Cost: Free

When: Tuesday, June 9, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

Webinar: Food is Medicine Under RFK Jr., May 27

May 21, 2026

Webinar: Food is Medicine Under RFK Jr., May 27

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has shone a spotlight on food. The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services sees it as a primary tool for treating chronic disease and has targeted ultra-processed foods, reformed the federal dietary guidelines and pushed nutrition education in medical schools.

What has it meant for the burgeoning food is medicine movement? Is the new administration progressing policy to increase nutrition’s reach in healthcare? Are more providers embracing the movement? Or has the government gone too far in its belief in the power of food to treat illness?

Wisconsin Health News is assembling a virtual panel of experts to discuss the future of food as medicine.

Cost: Free

When: Wednesday, May 27, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

American Heart Association: Health Care Affordability

May 21, 2026

American Heart Association: Health Care Affordability

It is no secret that costs – including healthcare – are rising, but the AHA’s recent Scientific Statement on Healthcare Affordability underscores the scale and ramifications of that nearly unchecked growth.

Overall healthcare costs are expected to grow at an annually compounded rate of 5.8% with spending on CVD expected to reach 4.6% in 2050.

The statement includes a variety of suggested policy and practice levers, many of which are focused on prevention, but how can you help?

  • Join AHS’s HeartPowered Network to help advance future policy work at the Federal, state, and local level.
  • Look for opportunities to support greater access to blood pressure monitoring in your community by creating a Library with Heart (or other “Heart Hub”).
  • Make sure you stay up-to-date on your state’s plans for the Rural Health Transformation Fund and the opportunities the RHTF offers.

American Heart Association’s Webinar Practical Considerations for the Use of GLP1 Medications in Type 2 Diabetes, June 1

May 21, 2026

American Heart Association’s Webinar Practical Considerations for the Use of GLP1 Medications in Type 2 Diabetes, June 1

This webinar will provide an overview of the considerations for use of GLP-1 receptor agonist medications for people with Type 2 diabetes.

Learn about the current guidelines for pharmacological management of Type 2 diabetes, the benefits of using GLP-1 medications such as their cardiovascular and kidney protective effects, and ways to overcome common prescribing barriers.

Cost: Free

When: Monday, June 1, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

These Resources may help with the implementation of the related best practices including:

MHA Health Institute: 2026 Pain Management Series Registration: Advancing Substance Use Care in Clinical Practice, Starts June 10

May 19, 2026

MHA Health Institute: 2026 Pain Management Series Registration: Advancing Substance Use Care in Clinical Practice, Starts June 10

Join MHA for a four part informational series focused on improving clinical practice related to opioid prescribing, pain management, stimulant use disorder and alcohol reduction.

Each session offers practical, evidence-informed strategies that can be applied across health care and community settings.

Objectives:

Upon completion of this program, participants will be able to:

  • Gain a deeper understanding of the CDC prescribing guidelines,
  • Engage patients in effective pain-related conversations,
  • Learn about overamping and how to medically respond to stimulant use disorder, and
  • Improve comfort with difficult conversations around alcohol use.

Cost: Complimentary to all attendees

When:

  • Wednesday, June 10, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
  • Wednesday, June 17, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
  • Wednesday, June 24, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
  • Wednesday, July 1, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Click Here to Learn More and Register