Rural Spotlight

Targeted Technical Assistance for Rural Hospitals Program – Deadline for Next Cohort is September 30

May 14, 2026

Targeted Technical Assistance for Rural Hospitals Program – Deadline for Next Cohort is September 30

Participants in this program – including Critical Access Hospitals and inpatient Prospective payment System hospitals – receive virtual and on-site technical assistance to address financial and operational challenges while maintaining essential health services for their communities.

Funded by FORHP and carried out by experts at the Georgia Southern University Center for Rural Public Health Practice and Research, the program accepts applications on an ongoing basis, with a cut-off of September 30 for the next cohort.

Click Here to Learn More and Apply

Mental Health Awareness Month: National Maternal Mental Health Hotline

May 14, 2026

Mental Health Awareness Month: National Maternal Mental Health Hotline

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, HRSA is highlighting the importance of mental health among pregnant and postpartum women.

Research has shown that rural mothers experience higher rates of post-partum depression compared to urban mothers.

The National Maternal Mental Health Hotline can be reached at 1-833-TLC-MAMA and offers free, confidential support 24/7 by call, text, and chat.

Trained counselors provide emotional support, information, and referrals to local resources for pregnant and postpartum women, and their loved ones.

Since launching on Mother’s Day in 2022, the Hotline has supported more than 100,000 people, helping to connect them to care when they need it most.

Share this resource with your patients, clients, partners, and communities. You can also print and order free promotional materials including posters, magnets, and wallet cards to display and distribute.

See the HRSA Maternal & Child Health Website for more information and to access materials.

Click Here to go the HRSA’s Maternal & Child Health Website

FORHP Notice of Funding Opportunity Announcement

May 14, 2026

FORHP Notice of Funding Opportunity Announcement

Several Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs) that were previously forecasted on Grants.gov were temporarily removed and the forecasts were re-posted late last week. As a result, individuals who subscribed to the original forecast will not receive updates or notifications for these opportunities.

All interested applicants are encouraged to visit Grants.gov and re-subscribe to these NOFOs to ensure they receive notifications when the funding opportunities are posted, as well as any subsequent updates.

The following opportunities may be of particular interest:

Webinar: The Coordination Squeeze: What is Slowing Care Access and How Leaders are Fixing It, June 11

May 14, 2026

Webinar: The Coordination Squeeze: What is Slowing Care Access and How Leaders are Fixing It, June 11

Care coordination teams are being asked to do more with less. Staffing constraints, rising costs and administrative complexity are turning what should be a straightforward patient experience – getting to care – into one of the most friction-heavy parts of operations.

The downstream effects are hard to ignore. Missed appointments delay treatment, erode revenue and chip away at patient trust. Call center teams are stretched. Transportation logistics fall to people who were never meant to manage them. And traditional coordination models, built in a different era, are showing their limits.

In this session, presenters will share how healthcare and behavioral health organizations are redesigning coordination and transportation workflows to ease the burden on staff, improve oversight and better serve diverse patient populations.

Learnings include:

  • Where traditional coordination models fall short and what more modern approaches look like,
  • How to maintain visibility, compliance and cost control as models evolve,
  • Practical ways transportation strategy can reduce missed appointments and improve engagement, and
  • Implementation tradeoffs, early wins and honest lessons from leaders in the work.

Cost: Free

When: Thursday, June 11, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

Webinar: How Three Health Systems are Overcoming Today’s Workforce Challenges, May 19

May 14, 2026

Webinar: How Three Health Systems are Overcoming Today’s Workforce Challenges, May 19

Healthcare organizations are navigating workforce strain while balancing financial constraints and evolving care demands.

During this conversation, leaders from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Fairview Health and Penn State Health share how finance, HR and clinical teams are working together to address workforce challenges and stabilize operations.

You will hear how cross-functional collaboration is shaping workforce strategies across organizations and how alignment across leadership functions can support more sustainable workforce planning and operational stability.

Attendees will learn:

  • How finance, HR and clinical leaders are partnering to address workforce challenges,
  • Key financial, operational and clinical considerations shaping workforce strategy, and
  • Practical approaches to cross-functional collaboration.

Cost: Free

When: Tuesday, May 19, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

Whitepaper: Acute Care Has a Technology Problem Hiding in Plain Sight

May 14, 2026

Whitepaper: Acute Care Has a Technology Problem Hiding in Plain Sight

Hospitals have never had more bedside devices, data streams and algorithms. Yet the gap between technological promise and measurable outcomes remains stubbornly wide. Research shows 21% of nursing care goes undelivered in variable acuity units, and only 5 to 13% of patient alarms actually require clinical action.

The problem is not a lack of technology. It is the absence of an integrated feedback loop that continuously connects data, insight, workflow and measurement.

This report introduces the Acute Care Informatics Outcomes Flywheel – a seven-step operating model designed specifically for variable-acuity inpatient environments where clinician time is scarce, risk is real and the opportunity for improvement is significant. Unlike one-time technology deployments, the Outcomes Flywheel compounds in value with every patient encounter, creating a self-reinforcing engine for better clinical and operational performance.

The report walks through three case studies showing the flywheel in practice, from reducing non-actionable telemetry alarms to improving ICU triage accuracy.

Learnings include:

  • Why threshold-based alarms and siloed data fail to prevent patient deterioration,
  • How a seven-step outcomes flywheel turns device data into a continuous learning loop,
  • Five reinforcing value levers that compound clinical and financial impact over time, and
  • A practical, stage-based approach leaders can use to build and scale this capability.

Click Here to Download this Whitepaper

Whitepaper: Healthcare Offshoring – A Practical Guide for Healthcare Finance Leaders

May 14, 2026

Whitepaper: Healthcare Offshoring – A Practical Guide for Healthcare Finance Leaders

Revenue cycle teams are stretched thin.

Denials are increasing, hiring is more difficult and administrative workloads continue to grow. Many organizations are dedicating substantial time to denial management and rework, limiting their ability to focus on strategic initiatives.

This guide presents a structured approach to building offshore teams that extend capacity without overloading domestic staff.

Rather than handing off work to a vendor, the co-managed model allows organizations to retain control over hiring, training and day-to-day operations – while leveraging offshore infrastructure and talent.

Learnings include:

  • How offshore teams can support both front-end and back-end revenue cycle functions,
  • Why the co-managed model enables greater control and transparency than traditional outsourcing,
  • Key compliance considerations, including HIPAA and data privacy requirements, and
  • A step-by-step framework for implementing and scaling offshore teams.

Click Here to Download Whitepaper

Whitepaper: From Data to Decisions: Rethinking Virtual Care Performance

May 14, 2026

Whitepaper: From Data to Decisions: Rethinking Virtual Care Performance

Hospitals generate vast amounts of clinical and operational data each year, yet only a small portion is actively used to guide care delivery.

At the same time, virtual care programs often rely on disconnected workflows that limit visibility, slow decision-making and constrain scalability.

Today, virtual care platforms are evolving into orchestration layers that integrate EHR, imaging and operational data directly into the consult workflow. This shift enables leaders to improve how work is distributed, how decisions are made and how performance is managed across the enterprise.

In this white paper, explore how data orchestration is reshaping virtual care delivery and supporting more efficient, scalable programs.

Key Insights Include:

  • How real-time demand signals can automate and optimize consult assignment,
  • Why surfacing relevant patient data within workflows accelerates clinical decision-making, and
  • How reducing manual coordination can improve provider utilization and lower operating burden.

Click Here to Download this Whitepaper

MHA Health Institute: Expanding Rural Medical Clerkships in Missouri, June 4

May 14, 2026

MHA Health Institute: Expanding Rural Medical Clerkships in Missouri, June 4

This one-hour virtual event will provide Missouri health care leaders with an overview of rural medical clerkship opportunities and their impact on strengthening the state’s rural health workforce.

Hear from medical schools about what they look for in clerkship locations, the benefits they bring to both students and rural clinical sites, and the support available to rural health systems interested in starting clerkships.

The session also will discuss common barriers, strategies for successful implementation, and ways health care organizations can engage to help train and retain the next generation of rural providers.

Cost: Free for all attendees

When: Thursday, June 4, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Click Here to Learn More and Register

Webinar: Turning Data into Action: The Real Impact of AI at the Point of Care, June 4

May 13, 2026

Webinar: Turning Data into Action: The Real Impact of AI at the Point of Care, June 4

Healthcare organizations are not lacking data, they are lacking timely, actionable insight at the point of care.

As health systems continue to invest in data infrastructure, many still struggle to translate that data into workflows clinicians can use.

In this discussion, leaders from Intermountain Health, Hackensack Meridian health and McLaren Health will examine how AI is being used to help clinicians identify care gaps, surface relevant insights and support more informed decision making.

Key takeaways include:

  • How organizations are turning existing data into actionable insights,
  • Where AI is delivering value in clinical workflows today, and
  • How to move toward an AI-augmented clinical workflow

Cost: Free

When: Thursday, June 4, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register