Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Sustainability of programs

Planning with Purpose: Leveraging FORHP's Rural Health Network Development Planning Program for Lasting Community Impact
Webinar recording highlighting the one-year Rural Health Network Development Planning Program (Network Planning Program) grant from the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP). Speakers include former Network Planning Program grantees discussing their experiences and work as part of this grant program, including a focus on partnerships, strengthening infrastructure, and improving access to care.
Additional links: Audio Recording, Webinar Slides
Date: 08/2026
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Evaluation of a Minigrant Program for Multilevel Interventions to Promote Human Papillomavirus Vaccination in Rural Communities in Georgia
Examines 4 health department minigrant programs related to human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine uptake in rural communities. Analyzes program results according to reach of patients, intervention levels, HPV vaccination effectiveness, implementation barriers, and sustainability.
Author(s): Cam Escoffery, Courtney Petagna, Rithika Chari, et al.
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 23
Date: 08/2026
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Collaboration to Contracting: A Guide to Rural Clinically Integrated Networks
Identifies 5 pillars of successful rural clinically integrated network (CIN) development. Covers legal matters, governance, care delivery, data infrastructure, and financial sustainability. Includes action steps for administrators of CINs.
Date: 07/2026
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Value
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Practical Guide to Supporting Innovation in Rural Health
Strategies, tools, and examples that rural health programs, practitioners, and partners can use to design, implement, and scale innovative approaches that build on local realities and strengths. Highlights promising practices that support innovation in rural health systems and community-based organizations.
Date: 06/2026
Sponsoring organizations: NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis, Rural Health Information Hub
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Building Collaborative Contracts With Health Care: A Social Connection Partnership Between Senior Connection, Inc., and UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Massachusetts
Highlights a mobile outreach program for older adults in rural Massachusetts. Describes the program's focus on the 4Ms Framework of Age-Friendly Care, demonstrated impact, lessons learned, and sustainability plan.
Date: 06/2026
Sponsoring organizations: Aging and Disability Business Institute, The John A. Hartford Foundation, USAging
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2026 Annual Report of the Boards of Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance and Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Funds
Report detailing the current state of the Medicare Hospital Insurance (HI) and Supplemental Medical Insurance (SMI) Trust Funds. Discusses Medicare expenditures as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and makes short and long-range sustainability projections based on variable economic, demographic, and healthcare trends. Also explains the actuarial methods used to calculate the estimates. Includes information on Medicare payment policy updates since the 2025 report.
Additional links: Tables and Figures
Date: 06/2026
Sponsoring organization: Board of Trustees, Federal Hospital Insurance and Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Funds
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Nurse-Led Mobile Clinics to Improve Rural Health Access and Disaster Preparedness: A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of a Texas Program
Examines the impact of nurse-led mobile clinics on healthcare access, continuity of care, and disaster preparedness in rural Texas. Provides a program evaluation of the mobile clinic model using mixed methods and describes mobile clinic structure, interprofessional education (IPE), disaster preparedness and response, rural health access, sustainability, and policy implications.
Author(s): Nicole Peters Kroll, Sharon L. Dormire, Kelly L. Wilson
Citation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 23(6), 702
Date: 05/2026
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Sustaining Rural Labor & Delivery Programs: Strategies & Considerations Webinar
A recorded webinar that discusses strategies to improve financial sustainability of rural hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). Focuses on financial performance, reimbursement opportunities, and operational models identified in the Sustaining Rural Labor & Delivery Programs report. Transcript available below transcription.
Author(s): Eric Shell, Kristin L. Reiter, Madeleine Pick
Date: 05/2026
Sponsoring organization: Stroudwater Associates
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The Decentralized Academic Health Center: A 21st-Century Model for Rural Health Innovation
Discusses the role of academic health centers in addressing rural health needs and proposes the Decentralized Academic Health Center (D-AHC) model. Compares the traditional model with D-AHC and discusses implementation through teaching and workforce, research and data, clinical partnerships and digital health, community engagement and policy, financial sustainability, and provider and community readiness. Includes a 5-phase roadmap for implementation.
Author(s): Patrick C. Hardigan, Johannes Vieweg
Citation: Health Affairs Scholar, 4(5)
Date: 05/2026
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Lessons From Rural Communities: Five Tips for Community-Based Organizations Engaging in Research
Offers 5 considerations for community-based organizations conducting research in rural communities, discussing building networks, considering community needs, centering local knowledge and experiences, measured metrics, and sustainability.
Date: 05/2026
Sponsoring organization: NIH Community Engagement Alliance
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