Rural Spotlight

May 6, 2026

Whitepaper: Close the Portal Trust Gap Without Adding Login Friction

Nearly half of consumers access healthcare portals less than once a month, and 16% say they have never used one.

For payer organizations investing heavily in digital member portals, this gap between availability and engagement raises an important question: What is holding adoption back?

A new survey examines how individuals access healthcare portals, how they verify their identity and how confident they feel about the security of their personal health data. The findings highlight how security perceptions, authentication methods and awareness gaps influence whether consumers trust and use digital health platforms.

For payer leaders responsible for protecting member data while driving digital engagement, these insights shed light on where trust gaps remain and how identity verification strategies can evolve.

Key insights include:

• Why nearly half of consumers access healthcare portals less than monthly,
• The trust gap affecting portal adoption among non-users,
• Which portal features drive the most consumer engagement, and
• What security perceptions mean for payer digital strategy.

Click Here to Download this Whitepaper

May 6, 2026

Article: Agencies Warn of Agentic AI Cybersecurity Risks

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, National Security Agency and international cybersecurity arms have issued a guide about the careful adoption of agentic AI.

“The guidance primarily focuses on large language model-based agentic AI systems and highlights key security challenges and risks for organizations,” the American Hospital Association reported May 1. “It discusses threats and vulnerabilities within agentic AI systems and risks that arise from system behavior. The guidance also includes steps for designing, deploying and operating agentic AI systems safely.”

As health systems increasingly adopt agentic AI, the agencies warn of the expanded footprint and inconsistent behavior of the technology.

Click Here to Read Guidance

Click Here to Read More from America’s Cyber Defense Agency

May 6, 2026

Article: Closing the Access Gap: 6 Strategies to Redraw the Patient Care Map

For rural healthcare organizations, access has become the central organizing principle behind nearly every strategic decision.

This new operational reality is being shaped by a convergence of pressures. Workforce shortages, rapidly declining independent physician practices, geographic dispersion and aging populations have pushed traditional care models to their limits, widening gaps in access to routine and preventive services. A November 2025 Commonwealth Fund report highlights the consequences: nearly 40% of adults living in rural areas have sought care in emergency departments for conditions that likely could have been treated in primary care settings.

But the challenge, as athenahealth’s research and policy work make clear, runs deeper than geography alone. “I think access is much more nuanced,” Joe Ganley, vice president of government and regulatory affairs at athenahealth, said. “It’s great if I have a doctor’s office in my town. It’s not great if I can’t get an appointment for nine months because they’re totally booked, or I can’t afford it.”

In response, rural leaders are redesigning not just where but how care is delivered – through virtual-first workflows, expanded ambulatory and community-based care sites, stronger data-sharing and new partnerships that ease patients’ access to services while extending scarce clinical capacity.

This article, the first in a four-part series, “Rural healthcare excellence in 2026: 26 lessons in making less do more,” highlights six ways rural providers are expanding access through pragmatic innovation and what it signals for the future of care delivery.

Click Here to Read More