Protect Your Value: Positioning Rural Hospitals for Stronger Partnerships

In today’s rural healthcare landscape, the stakes are high—and many rural hospitals are navigating strategic decisions without a full understanding either their strategic risk profile or the value they bring to potential or existing partnerships. Frequently, prospective partners and existing partners also fail to accurately account for rural affiliate value. As a result, opportunities to enhance rural affiliate contribution margin go unrealized. Based on flawed analysis, evaluation of performance and allocation of resources are impacted.

This session introduces a comprehensive framework for understanding how rural health systems create and sustain value. Participants will explore the risks and benefits of independence versus partnership, examine a range of partnership structures—including emerging models—and learn how to evaluate and strengthen their current or prospective alignment strategies. Through real-world case studies, this session provides practical tools to identify strategic and operational risks, mitigate partner-related challenges, and ensure that the full value of rural healthcare is recognized and leveraged in any collaborative arrangement.

Key learnings include:

  1. Assess Strategic and Operating Risks – Understand the key risks facing stand-alone rural hospitals and how they compare to those associated with partnerships.
  2. Evaluate Partnership Structures – Explore various partnership models, including traditional and emerging structures, and assess the pros and cons of each.
  3. Identify, Quantify and Communicate Value – Learn how to measure and articulate the unique value rural affiliates bring to current or future partnerships.
  4. Strengthen Existing Collaborations – Gain strategies for refining current partnerships to ensure mutual benefit, mitigate risks, and drive long-term sustainability.
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Q&A

How do people stay on top of all the payer newsletters to sort through everything to pull out applicable information for the facility/provider? Who typically is going through the newsletter to gather the information to share with other staff?

Our billing specialists are organized by payer, allowing them to develop deep expertise in their respective areas. Each specialist subscribes to their payer’s newsletters to stay informed about updates and changes. Additionally, our team leads, Supervisor, and Director of Patient Accounts—along with the Prior Authorization Team—collaborate to share key insights and ensure the entire team stays up to date. This collective approach enhances our ability to navigate payer policies efficiently and provide the best possible service. 

What leadership structure do you have in place for your revenue cycle and who or what do you use for training when billers or coders need it? Especially for new service lines or common denials?

Our billing specialists are supported by a structured leadership team, including two team leads, one Supervisor, and one Director. Training for billing specialists is conducted by our Supervisor and team leads to ensure consistency and expertise. Additionally, billing specialists meet weekly with leadership to review denials and identify payer-specific trends. For new coders, who are required to be certified, training is led by our Coding Lead to maintain high standards of accuracy and compliance.

Are the billers assigned based on an alphabetical split or by insurance type, such as Medicare and Medicaid specialists?

Billers are first assigned by insurance type and then further divided by alphabetical split. Since each insurance type has multiple billers, the alpha split helps distribute the workload efficiently.

Since we have union employees, how could we implement a similar incentive to Kindal’s while ensuring compliance with union regulations?

This would depend on the specifics of your union contract. Stroudwater can work with you to review the contract and develop a compliant incentive model.

Does your Coding/HIM department manage CPT coding, modifiers, and ICD-10, or do they focus solely on ICD-10?

Our Coding team handles all aspects of coding, including CPT, modifiers, and ICD-10. They thoroughly review all provider documentation to ensure accuracy and compliance.