Rural Spotlight

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Informational Webinar – Shield Up: Data Breach Defense Strategies for Labor Day Weekend, July 30

July 25, 2025

Informational Webinar – Shield Up: Data Breach Defense Strategies for Labor Day Weekend, July 30

As cyber criminals exploit holiday lulls, Labor Day weekend presents a prime opportunity for data breaches.

Join this timely webinar where Celerium experts equip you with proactive defense strategies to safeguard your organization during high-risk holiday periods, including data breach playbooks for readiness and action.

Learn how to bolster your systems and stay ahead of attackers before you head into the long weekend.

Target Audience:

  • IT leaders,
  • CISOs,
  • Cybersecurity professionals, and
  • Operating teams

Cost: Free

When: Wednesday, July 30, 1:00 p.m. ET

Click Here to Register

 

Webinar: Reaching High-Risk Patients at Home, July 31

July 25, 2025

Webinar: Reaching High-Risk Patients at Home, July 31

Home health care models are here to stay – but only if patients stay engaged, safe and connected. That’s where scalable, HIPAA-compliant technology makes the difference.

In this session, commercial and technology leaders reveal how to transform care delivery at home. From real-time data capture to proactive outreach, they’ll share how to drive sustained engagement – even in the hardest-to-reach populations.

Join to Learn:

  • How to support outreach to high-risk, high-cost patients,
  • The tech stack powering real-time alerts, remote monitoring and user-friendly devices, and
  • Design principles for scalable, secure, and simple at-home care delivery.

Cost: Free

When: Thursday, July 31, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

Webinar: Making Space for Life Saving Care – Inside Baptist Health’s Command Center Strategy, August 5

July 25, 2025

Webinar: Making Space for Life Saving Care – Inside Baptist Health’s Command Center Strategy, August 5

Baptist Health Medical Center – North Little Rock (AR) faced the same squeeze many hospitals feel today – rising volumes, longer waits and overworked staff. Instead of adding more physical space or people, hospital leaders looked to solve these issues with an AI-powered command center. What they got was a system capable of predicting capacity crunches hours in advance and guiding teams to the next best action.

On August 5, at 1:00 p.m. hospital president Cody Walker will walk through the tactics that freed up beds, cut handoff delays and made front-line work easier. The session is practical, data-rich and actionable.

Learnings Include:

  • How Baptist Health detects capacity bottlenecks before they happen,
  • How hospital leadership foster a culture of transparence and proactive decision-making, and
  • How predictive analytics can support greater efficiency and better patient care.

Cost: Free

When: Tuesday, August 5, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. CT

Click Here to Register

CMS Proposes to Decrease Hospital Outpatient Payments for Non-Drug Items and Services to Offset Higher Payments Made as a Result of 340B Payment Policy, Comment by September 15

July 25, 2025

CMS Proposes to Decrease Hospital Outpatient Payments for Non-Drug Items and Services to Offset Higher Payments Made as a Result of 340B Payment Policy, Comment by September 15

Between 2028 and 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) decreased Medicare reimbursements to hospitals paid under the outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) for drugs acquired through the 340B Drug Pricing Program (“340B Program”), a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) program that allows covered entities to purchase certain outpatient drugs at discounted prices from drug manufacturers.

To maintain budget neutrality, CMS redistributed the savings to all hospitals paid under the OPPS by increasing their payment rates for non-drug items and services. In 2022, the Supreme Court held that because CMS did not conduct a survey of hospitals’ acquisition costs, they could not vary the payment rates for outpatient prescription drugs by hospital group.

In response, CMS finalized in the Final Remedy Rule that 340B hospitals would receive a one-time lump sum payment reimbursing them for the decreased drug payments and CMS would reduce payments for non-drug items and services to all OPPS providers by 0.5 percent starting in 2026 until the total offset was reached (estimated to be about 16 years).

Click Here to Read More and Submit Comment

Rural Health Research: Interstate Occupational Licensure Arrangements to Expand Access to Behavioral Health Services

July 25, 2025

Rural Health Research: Interstate Occupational Licensure Arrangements to Expand Access to Behavioral Health Services

This policy brief from the WWAMI Rural Health Research Center describes state-based provisions to expand behavioral health services through interstate licensure arrangements for:

  • Psychologists,
  • Social workers,
  • Licensed professional counselors,
  • Marriage and family therapists, and
  • School psychologists

Click Here to Read Brief

Whitepaper: Burnout was Rising. This Louisiana Health System Found a Way to Scale Relief

July 25, 2025

Whitepaper: Burnout was Rising. This Louisiana Health System Found a Way to Scale Relief

At Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System, HER analytics revealed that providers were losing hours to notes. Even after initial investments in voice tools, burden remained, and front-line dissatisfaction was growing.

By implementing a generative AI assistant with ambient capabilities, FMOLHS saw strong clinical uptake and measurable results. After-hours documentation dropped 65%. High-value coding rose, and providers reported better work/life balance across the board.

What this case study covers:

  • How FMOLHS integrated ambient AI with Epic to ease documentation burden,
  • What drove 70% clinician adoption and long-term rollout success, and
  • Operational, financial and workforce results that earned C-suite buy-in.

Click Here to Download Whitepaper