Rural Hospital Excellence in Innovation Award
The American Hospital Association (AHA) Rural Hospital Excellence in Innovation Award honors the accomplishments of rural hospitals that demonstrate responsiveness, innovation, and excellence in developing, implementing, and sustaining programs and services.
Selected awardees will be working to advance and improve programs, care redesign, collaboration, or technology solutions to address emerging healthcare challenges, ensuring progress in patient and community health and well-being in rural, remote, and frontier areas of the U.S. and territories.
Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Utilization of telehealth services, wearable patient/consumer technologies, remote patient monitoring systems, and artificial intelligence-powered (AI) platforms used in response to the remote patient and community needs of rural and frontier areas of the country and territories
- Implementation of advanced cybersecurity measures to protect the integrity of patient information, support systems and devices, and the overall system of care
- Integration of AI to address issues such as access to care, advanced diagnostics, or personalized care in rural hospital setting, workforce shortages, administrative burden, health plan coverage denials or delays, or communication tools to improve patient/consumer health literacy and/or adherence to care plans
Rural hospitals that are American Hospital Association members in good standing are eligible to apply for this award.
The programs and services described in the application must have been operational for a minimum of 18 months and have measurable data to demonstrate impact and sustainability.
Honored programs must:
- Identify a key leader willing to participate in a panel discussion at the AHA Rural Health Care Leadership Conference
- Participate in outreach and education throughout the year
One winner and up to 3 finalists will be honored at the 2027 AHA Rural Health Care Leadership Conference, January 31 - February 3, 2027, in Orlando, Florida. One representative from each honored organization will receive complimentary registration, airfare, and two hotel nights to attend the conference.
Links to additional guidance, application instructions, and the online application platform are available on the program website.
For complete information about funding programs, including your
application status, please contact funders directly. Summaries are provided
for your convenience only. RHIhub does not take part in application processes
or monitor application status.