Rural hospitals often feel pressure to shrink to survive—but the data tells a different story. Across more than 30 performance improvement engagements, Stroudwater has found that the greatest opportunities for revenue growth come from reducing inpatient outmigration (33.2% of identified improvements) and growing service lines (14.3%). The key to sustainability isn’t cutting back—it’s expanding strategically to meet community needs and keep more care local.
In this session, participants will learn how to use market insights—such as demographic shifts, utilization trends, and ZIP code-level analyses—to guide service line decisions, reduce leakage, and identify opportunities to capture patient volume. Attendees will see how aligning services with community needs not only strengthens financial stability but also builds loyalty and keeps access to essential care close to home.
Key takeaways include:
- Learn why reducing outmigration and growing service lines deliver the highest ROI for rural hospitals.
- Understand how market data can reveal hidden opportunities to expand services and capture local demand.
- Explore strategies to strengthen provider recruitment, community engagement, and partnership alignment.
- Walk away with practical approaches to turn market insights into sustainable growth and performance improvement.
