Stroudwater Associates Announces Fourth Annual Critical Access Hospital Virtual Conference

The annual conferences explore how rural hospitals can improve operational performance

Stroudwater Associates, the nation’s leading source for strategic, operational, financial, quality, and clinical strategy for rural and community healthcare, has announced its fourth-annual Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Regional Virtual Conferences. 

The fourth-annual CAH Regional Conferences, taking place virtually across five US regions in June 2024, will provide rural hospital leaders with vital operational resources to help CAHs improve performance. Core subjects include swing bed optimization, cost report best practices, population health strategies, revenue cycle training, provider compensation, analytics, and other topics significant in rural and community healthcare. The sessions, presented by rural healthcare subject matter experts, also include case studies from State Offices of Rural Health, rural hospitals, and other partnership presenters with extensive backgrounds in rural healthcare. 

Even as we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, many rural hospitals have not returned to pre-pandemic volumes and are now struggling with rapid input cost increases, workforce shortages and demands, and aging infrastructure.  

“Rural hospital leaders desperately need practical tools that they can use to address the ever-changing challenges that they face daily to run their hospital,” said Stroudwater Associates Managing Director, Jeff Sommer, MPP. “Our regional conferences will arm them with the expertise they need to diagnose issues and improve operations, financial readiness, and clinical and quality outcomes.” 

Representatives of over 327 CAHs across the five regions participated in last year’s CAH Regional Virtual Conferences and highlighted case studies and presenters specific to each region. Many state offices were also represented.  As a result, rural hospitals benefited from hearing how their peers addressed the daily challenges of operating a rural hospital.   

“The success of rural hospitals directly impacts the communities that they serve, yet our industry remains heavily underrepresented. Our conference serves as an opportunity for leaders to collaborate, educate, and initiate positive change in the rural communities they represent,” said Stroudwater Associates’ Chairman, Eric Shell, MBA 

The 2024 CAH Regional Virtual Conferences will take place during the second and third weeks of June. Registrants are invited to register for the region specific to their state but are also welcome to register for sessions for other regions based on topics of interest and scheduling considerations. Each region is scheduled to accommodate the time zones within that region.

To find more information or register for your state’s respective CAH Conference, visit Stroudwater’s registration page.