Rural Spotlight

August 5, 2025

Panel Discussion: Abundance Based Leadership in Rural Health: Strategies to Address Uncertainty in the Wake of OB3, August 22

With rising financial pressure and Medicaid uncertainties on the horizon, rural hospitals across the country are asking the same question: How do we survive what’s next – and still build toward a stronger future? What are the opportunities that we can implement now to care for our rural communities?

In this 90-minute session, the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) and a panel of rural health leaders will discuss what The One Big Beautiful Bill Act means for rural providers, how to navigate potential Medicaid cuts, and how to position your organization to thrive in a time of change. Brock Slabach, COO of NRHA, will open with key insights from his July conversations in Washington, D.C., followed by perspectives from rural hospital CEOs: Mary Ellen Pratt of St. James Parish Hospital, Benjamin Anderson of Hutchinson Regional Health System and Kevin DeRonde of Mahaska Health.

Topics Include:

• What the Rural Transformation Program could unlock and how to prepare,
• Navigating Medicaid uncertainty without losing momentum,
• Leveraging rural identity for recruitment, philanthropy, and strategic growth,
• Aligning culture, physicians, and operations during volatile times, and
• Turning an abundance mindset into a long-term competitive advantage and financial growth.

Takeaways Include:

• Aligning medical staff who are creative, engaged, and caring,
• Implementing specific recruitment and retention strategies,
• Growing and adding new rural services versus reducing services,
• Unlocking the massive benefits of performing a Strategic, Financial & Operational Assessment (SFOA),
• Implementing a culture that produces positive margins,
• Caring for the caregiver, and
• Identifying the difference between signal versus noise.

Cost: Free

When: Friday, August 22, 11:00 a.m.- 12:00 p.m.

NOTE: Participants are encouraged to watch the June session in advance and submit questions ahead of time to help shape the conversation.

Click Here to Watch June Session

Click Here to Register for August session

August 5, 2025

Upcoming Webinar: Activating Clinical Workflow Intelligence: Guthrie’s Model for System Wide Efficiency, September 24

Health systems are under pressure to improve care coordination, but most solutions come with added cost or complexity. Guthrie proved it’s possible to do more with what you already have.

With clinical workflow technology, the health system has accelerated consults, streamlined handoffs and built a foundation for enterprise-wide automation – starting with cardiology and expanding across service lines.

Join this session to learn how clinical and support leaders at Guthrie made it happen.

You’ll Learn:

• How Guthrie used consult automation to reduce friction and improve speed of care,
• The strategy behind expanding automation across specialties and settings, and
• Lessons in change management, alignment and accountability across departments

Cost: Free

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

Click Here to Register

August 4, 2025

Webinar – The New Patient Journey: How AI Creates a Connected Digital Experience, August 21

Healthcare’s digital front doors often fall short – disjointed portals, unanswered messages and lack of continuity frustrate patients and staff alike. Without a connected experience, satisfaction scores dip and trust erodes.

In this webinar, healthcare experts will explore how AI can bridge these gaps. From automated engagement tools to smarter care coordination, they’ll share practical strategies for delivering consistent, personalized experiences across the care continuum.

Learning Points Include:

• How to use AI to streamline access and eliminate common communication breakdowns,
• Real-world insights on digital care orchestration from health systems already deploying these tools, and
• How to elevate patient satisfaction while reducing manual burdens on staff

Cost: Free

When: Thursday, August 21, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

August 4, 2025

Webinar – Faster, Smarter Hospital Position Control: How Automation Can Drive Alignment and Transparency in Hiring Decisions, August 14

The demand for labor is unrelenting in healthcare, with employment opportunities rising faster than any other industry. To keep pace, leaders need scalable strategies to manage open positions, stay aligned with staffing budgets, and manage the unique needs across departments like human resources (HR), finance and operations.

This webinar will cover the many common challenges healthcare organizations face in managing their position control processes, including difficulties syncing data to ensure strategic hiring decisions align with organizational goals.

Attendees also will learn about the evolution of the position control process in healthcare, and how finance leaders continue to tackle these challenges.

Key Learnings:

• Managing labor expense through the position review process, from establishing goals and structuring the committee to routing requests and creating an approval process,
• Opportunities to bring together data and automation for more informed position control, and
• The role finance plays in managing positions and how to create alignment with other teams, like HR and operations.

Cost: Free

When: Thursday, August 14, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

August 4, 2025

Webinar: Who’s Cleaning Medical Equipment? The Answer Affects Patient Flow, August 13

Ambiguous responsibilities for cleaning and equipment handling are costing hospitals more than time. They’re risking compliance, delaying care and compromising safety.

In this session, infection prevention and operations experts break down how instructions for use (IFU) misalignment across healthcare teams drives infection risk and patient delays – and what leading systems are doing instead.

You’ll hear real-world insights on how centralized service models can reduce confusion, drive throughput and keep hospitals survey ready.

Key Takeaways:

• How IFU uncertainty leads to delayed care and equipment downtime,
• Why shared responsibility models fail – and how centralizing can improve throughput, and
• How to protect uptime, safety and staff satisfaction with clear ownership of disinfection and storage.

Cost: Free

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

Click Here to Register

August 4, 2025

Webinar: Robotic Surgery as a Safety-net Advantage at Cook County Health, August 11

For many hospitals, every investment faces the same scrutiny: Does it expand access, improve outcomes, and keep the bottom line intact?

For Cook County Health, saying yes to robotic-assisted surgery did all three.

On August 11, join two leaders who built the program from the ground up and see how minimally invasive care became a catalyst for mission and margin alike. Speakers will share how Cook County Health launched and scaled a robotic surgery program while navigating limited capital, workforce training gaps and implementation barriers.

Whether you are evaluating the acquisition of your first robotic system or trying to accelerate growth, this session will challenge assumptions, share hard-won lessons, and show what’s possible when mission and business strategy align.

Learnings Include:

• Evaluating minimally invasive surgery as a health equity initiative for underserved populations,
• Leveraging data to build a financially sustainable business plan to expand 24/7 robotic surgery access, and
• Key to overcoming barriers to programmatic expansion – from lack of buy-in belief to resource constraints.

Cost: Free

When: Monday, August 11, 1:00 p.m.- 2:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

August 4, 2025

On Demand Webinar: How OSF HealthCare is Rethinking onboarding to Improve Retention

Burnout, turnover, disengagement – health systems are losing staff before they’ve operationalized a “hire to retire” strategy using a unified digital platform to create a seamless onboarding journey – one that boosts engagement from day one and supports long-term workforce retention.

You’ll hear how OSF is connecting the dots between onboarding, operations and employee satisfaction, and what other systems can learn from their approach.

Key Takeaways

• How OSF HealthCare is streamlining onboarding to reduce friction and accelerate employee readiness,
• Why personalization matters, and how to scale it without increasing HR burden, and
• The building blocks of a systemwide workforce engagement strategy that sticks.

Cost: Free

When: This is an on-demand webinar, watch at your convenience

Click Here to Access Webinar

August 4, 2025

Webinar – the Capacity Challenge: How Inspira Health Improved Efficiency and Patient Safety in the Emergency Department with AI, August 7

Hospital capacity has remained above 70% since 2023, and overcrowding in the emergency department remains a persistent and urgent challenge for many health systems.

At Inspira Health, rising volumes and limited physical space forced a new approach. Instead of adding staff or beds, the New Jersey-based system restructured ED operations to reduce wait times, improve safety and boost clinician capacity through strategic planning, staff engagement, and technology integration.

In this session, clinical and operational leaders from Inspira will share what worked – and what didn’t – in their push to turn operational strain into systemwide improvement.

What You’ll Learn:

• How Inspira improved ED efficiency and safety without adding staff or beds,
• Tactics that drove front-line engagement and executive alignment,
• Practical lessons for navigating ED capacity challenges, and
• How nursing leaders evaluate and use innovative technology to drive system outcomes.

Cost: Free

When: Thursday, August 25, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register