Rural hospitals continue to face workforce shortages, limited access to specialty expertise, and growing pressure to maintain high-quality services with constrained resources. Virtual health can help address these challenges, but its greatest potential goes beyond simply expanding access to care. When strategically integrated into hospital operations, virtual care can support workforce stability, strengthen clinical quality, and help rural hospitals sustain and grow local services.
This session will explore how rural and community hospitals can use virtual health as a strategic tool for organizational transformation. Participants will learn how virtual care can support provider recruitment and retention, reduce workforce burnout, expand service line capabilities, improve clinical quality, and increase patient retention within the local community. The session will also examine the operational and clinical factors that contribute to successful virtual health programs, including collaboration between local and virtual teams, shared accountability, and continuous improvement.
MRHA Webinar: Beyond Access: How Virtual Health Drives Workforce Stability, Quality Improvement, and Growth in Rural Hospitals
Thursday, February 11th, 2027 from 12-1pm CST
Zoom
Target Audience: Hospital and healthcare leadership teams, including CEOs, COOs, Chief Nursing Officers, Chief Strategy Officers, Chief Medical Officers, operations leaders, and virtual care leaders, as well as medical, clinical, and operations directors across emergency, hospitalist, critical care/ICU, pharmacy, behavioral health, and specialty clinic departments.
Presented By: Mandy Bell, Senior Vice President of Product Innovation, Avel eCare
Hosted by the Missouri Rural Health Association, this session is part of the Missouri Rural Health Association’s Rural Health Webinar Series and is FREE OF CHARGE and open to the public. If you'd like to learn more about supporting our ongoing education efforts, click here.