One expert notes that this is a new $50 billion rural hospital fund for a large beautiful bill bill is a positive step towards promoting rural health infrastructure – but short-term cash injections don’t solve the systemic challenges of rooting.
“Money is not the only answer,” said Jason Griffin, managing director of consulting firm Nordic Global.
While in Nordic Europe, Griffin worked with organizations like Microsoft and Chime to help modernize the IT infrastructure of rural hospitals and expand the use of digital health tools in the ongoing workforce and reimbursement challenges.
He knows that the stability of rural providers is threatened by imminent Medicaid cuts. While last-minute funds are used as a second stop, Griffin notes that over the next five years, it will cover only 37% of the potential losses of these providers.
In the future, he said he would like to see federal and state governments invest in infrastructure such as reliable broadband connectivity and stable EHR systems, rather than putting rural hospitals on the cost.
Griffin added that better infrastructure will enable sustainable telehealth and value-based care.
He said federal and state funding should also support the development of health care workforce in rural communities, including partnerships with university and medical training programs.
“In fact, all of this needs to be supported by cash injections to support long-term sustainability. I mean, we can spend a lot of money and then take the same boat five years from now,” Griffin said.
He noted that cybersecurity is an area of staffing challenges in rural hospitals, noting that these providers typically have only four or five people in their IT departments.
Griffin said most rural providers are working to manage third-party risks, which is now the main reason for healthcare data breaches.
“Even more than a week, you can permanently close your organization. We have seen these violations cause downtime for up to five to six weeks – which is unsustainable,” he declared.
Griffin added that rural hospitals must continually choose clinical equipment or cybersecurity – a burden that urban hospitals do not face.
He also noted that there is no national report or requirement to measure results related to funding. He stressed that indicators (such as emergency room waiting time and maternal health outcomes) are needed to track whether the funding improves care in rural communities.
Griffin believes that without a clear investment strategy, a cash injection risk will be wasted. He believes that investment is applied to improving infrastructure, labor development and shared services.
