In 2026, the spotlight is shining brightly on rural healthcare. Faced with severe financial barriers, regulations, and immediate closure risks threatening hundreds of facilities nationwide, rural health organizations are navigating a challenging operational landscape.
Our rural healthcare customers prove that innovation is not dictated by the size of a hospital’s footprint or the depth of its budget. Instead, true innovation is driven by a deep dedication to the communities they serve and a forward-thinking technology strategy. At MEDITECH, we are continuously inspired by the unique, community-focused strategies our customers use to serve their populations and secure their long-term independence.
Their innovation has not gone unnoticed. Three of our customers — Ozarks Healthcare, Beauregard Health System, and Bingham Health — were recently featured in industry publications, sharing their strategies and steps for success.
Ozarks Healthcare (West Plains, MO)
“Just because we’re small and we don’t have the same resources doesn’t mean that we can’t do things that are special too, and that we can’t find ways to be innovative ourselves,” said Ozarks Healthcare CMIO Priscilla Frase, MD, on a recent podcast with Becker’s Healthcare. This forward-thinking mindset earned Dr. Frase national recognition as CHIME’s 2024 Innovator of the Year and a HIMSS Senior Executive Changemaker honor.
For Ozarks Healthcare, interoperability has helped level the playing field. The TEFCA-aligned MEDITECH Traverse Exchange network removes barriers and allows the independent organization to exchange information with other healthcare organizations across the country, regardless of EHR vendor. This implementation was crucial for the eight-county region to provide seamless care for its local residents and the many tourists who visit the area. The impact was immediate, as within 24 hours of deploying a new consolidated patient summary feature, clinicians were using comprehensive data from across health systems, embedded directly in their workflows to drive informed decisions. Dr. Frase recounted a story of one patient who arrived with a complex medical history spanning over 370 visits across multiple states and only a limited orthopedic history at Ozarks. Within minutes, the orthopedic surgeon was able to see a holistic view of the patient’s history, including a cardiac cath report and echocardiogram, and to schedule the surgery within the same week.
Their community-focused approach to care guided their strategy to support maternal healthcare in an area where access is declining nationwide. By using insights from their community health needs assessment, Ozarks successfully introduced two hospital-affiliated midwives to collaborate with its OB-GYN specialists to fulfill the community’s desire for personal, relationship-based care. Because Ozarks serves a large, eight-county region, routine prenatal check-ins can require long drives for expectant mothers. To reduce the burden associated with travel, Ozarks is taking steps to virtualize its midwifery services.
Beyond digital care, Ozarks extends access to care through community-based outreach, most notably through its mobile mammography bus. The bus travels throughout Ozark Healthcare’s region, bringing screenings directly to rural clinics, businesses, churches, and other community locations. Alongside mammography services, the mobile team offers low-cost lab work and regular check-ins to ensure patients are supported through every step of their health journey.
Be sure to listen to the full podcast with Becker’s Healthcare.
Beauregard Health System (DeRidder, LA)
On a recent podcast with Becker's Hospital Review, Beauregard Health System Chief Executive Officer Traci Thibodeaux defined clinical excellence as continuous improvement in patient experience, clinical care, and performance benchmarks.
To strive towards their goal of clinical excellence, Beauregard prioritized developing systems that help mitigate human error and improve consistency. This commitment drove them to pilot IntelliSep, a diagnostic test for sepsis. As the first and only rural hospital in the country to pilot this tool, the organization brought one of healthcare’s newest diagnostic approaches directly into a community care setting to evaluate how advanced technology can improve rural care.
To maximize the tool’s impact, Beauregard utilized MEDITECH Expanse as the backbone of their sepsis management bundle. The moment test results populate, Expanse automates notifications and clinical protocols tailored to the workflows of each care team involved. The platform guides clinicians through detailed, patient-specific treatment steps.
Beauregard achieved far more than a streamlined workflow; they built a sustainable framework that saves time, cuts unnecessary costs, and, most importantly, saves lives. Thibodeaux coined this the perfect clinical “trifecta”: a balance of expert clinicians, safeguarded automation, and a strong MEDITECH EHR infrastructure.
“We’re proud of what we’re doing here, and we will continue to pursue excellence into perpetuity; that’s for sure,” said Thibodeaux.
Listen to the full conversation with Becker’s Healthcare.
Bingham Healthcare (Blackfoot, ID)
Conversations about rural healthcare tend to focus on barriers. In a pair of recent industry podcasts, Holly Davis, CNO at Bingham Healthcare, encourages leaders to broaden the conversation to embrace what makes rural healthcare organizations unique. While rural healthcare organizations face resource and access challenges, Davis points to advantages that are frequently overlooked, including close-knit communities that look out for one another, strong local relationships, cleaner environments, and the ability to communicate quickly during emergencies.
Davis believes those distinct strengths should influence how organizations tackle healthcare challenges. Instead of assuming every community will respond to the same program or technology, she encourages leaders to start with the people who know the community best — local clinicians. This community-first philosophy is evident in the examples she shared, from striking up conversations with residents at the local grocery store to expanding access to trusted health education at places like county fairs and school events. Ultimately, the goal is to give all community members a true voice in how healthcare organizations reach, support, and partner with them.
She also stresses the importance of encouraging people in the community to reach back out to them, explaining, “We think we know best for them when they actually know best for themselves, and we need to be able to partner with them on that.”
Listen to the podcast with Healthcare IT News.
Listen to the podcast with HealthLeaders.
MEDITECH Expanse: The infrastructure behind it all
We are inspired to see leading media organizations shine light on our customers and hear the role MEDITECH Expanse has played in their journey towards success. MEDITECH is committed to providing a flexible, cloud-native EHR infrastructure to support independent rural hospitals and advance community health nationwide.
Discover more ways our customers approach innovation.
