Rural hospitals are facing rising urgency to do more with less while still protecting the human core of care. In this session, leaders from Critical Access Hospitals, national rural health organizations, and applied AI share practical examples of technology that improves workflows, strengthens staff safety, and supports long-term sustainability.

Session Overview

Technology in rural healthcare doesn’t have to mean chasing trends or replacing people with machines. This conversation focuses on real, field-tested approaches rural hospitals are using right now:

• Start with community needs and service lines, then choose technology that supports the strategy

• Reduce friction by selecting tools that make clinical work easier, not more complex

• Build alignment across leadership (CEO/CFO/CNO/physician champions) so innovation is sustainable

• Use partnerships, telehealth, and automation to expand access and protect scarce workforce capacity

Key Takeaways You Can Apply

• A simple decision framework rural leaders use to evaluate tech: mission + margin + feasibility

• How to avoid “tool fatigue” by prioritizing workflow fit, provider buy-in, and implementation simplicity

• ROI beyond revenue: how to quantify turnover cost, onboarding burden, cost-avoidance, and productivity

• Lessons learned the hard way: why EHR integration and vendor flexibility can make or break adoption

• Where rural hospitals are seeing the biggest near-term impact:

  • Telehealth/teleradiology to maintain access when recruiting is toug

  • AI scribes and ambient documentation to cut documentation time and reduce burnout

  • Automation + reporting to free up limited FTEs for higher-value work

Who Should Watch

• Administrators and CEOs

• CFOs and finance leaders

• Nursing, quality, and operations leaders

• State Office of Rural Health leaders

• IT leaders and clinical informatics teams