Spring Conference Early Bird Registration Discount
Ends March 3 |
Mark your calendars and complete your registration now! Our 26th Annual Spring Conference on Jekyll Island is a few short months away and we're looking forward to seeing you there. This year's conference includes: - Breakout Sessions (Wednesday)
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Rural Health Clinics
- Revenue Cycle Professionals
- Critical Access Hospitals
- Board
- Swing Bed Teams
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Main Sessions (Thursday & Friday)
- Hear from: Jimmy Lewis, Rep. Darlene Taylor, Rep. Gerald Greene and Rep. Danny Mathis, Glenda Grant, Dr. Tyler Wallace, Lynnette Rhodes, Nita Ham, Michele Madison & Jarvis Gray
- Networking
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Town Hall
Early Bird Registration Ends March 3rd | Room Blocks End: March 6th
Hospital Attendees | Business Partners
Conference Agenda Overview |
Thank You for a Great CEO & Executive Leadership Day at the Capitol! |
Rural Transformation Funds Confirmed |
HomeTown Health is committed to keeping you informed and empowered as Georgia embarks on the most significant rural health transformation in decades. We will continue to monitor developments and provide updates, resources and support to help your hospital maximize the benefits of these programs, as we also continue to partner with the Department of Community Health and others for guidance on next steps for participation in this program.
Georgia & Florida have confirmed their funding amounts and guidance is still forthcoming about next steps within the respective states. Georgia was awarded $218.8 million for the first year of the five-year program, and Florida was awarded just over $209 million. Read the releases from the state governments here: Florida | Georgia
Florida
The Agency for Health Care Administration is leading the Florida Rural Hospital Transformation Program (RHTP) efforts with program guidance, funding opportunities, and implementation updates. Stay up to date with the latest information: If you have questions, please reach out to RHTP@ahca.myflorida.com
Georgia DCH is keeping hospitals updated on the GREAT Health Program (Georgia's Rural Health Transformation Program)
webpage at https://dch.georgia.gov/great-health-program-georgias-rural-health-transformation-program. Updates from the past month include: - Your hospital’s Letter of Intent to participate in the AHEAD Model is due to DCH no later than March 15, 2026 at 5 p.m.
- Action will be taken and funds distributed on Letters of Intent as they are received.
DCH press release for CMS Approval for Revised Budget from February 26, 2026: https://dch.georgia.gov/announcement/2026-02-26/georgia-receives-federal-approval-2188m-great-health-program
If you have any questions while reviewing these documents, please contact greathealth@dch.ga.gov. Also, feel free to reach out to Kristy Thomson to discuss. |
Free Quarterly Webinar Series:
HTH Leadership Engagement |
The HomeTown Health Leadership Engagement Series is designed to equip leaders and rural healthcare professionals with practical tools, guidance and program awareness. The series will meet quarterly throughout 2026 and 2027, taking time each meeting to talk through key leadership principles, impacts of investment in leadership, personal and professional development and strategic improvement for facilities. March 6: Empower. Lead. Transform with Lisa Carhuff, MSN, RN
Rural healthcare teams carry extraordinary responsibility, often delivering high‑quality care with limited resources, amid rapidly shifting policy changes and shifting community needs. This session explores why investing in leadership training is one of the most powerful ways to strengthen rural health systems and support the people who keep them running.
Participants will examine how strong leadership skills—communication, collaboration, decision‑making, and resilience—directly influence patient outcomes, staff retention, and organizational stability. We’ll highlight how leadership development empowers teams to navigate challenges, build trust, and create a culture where every voice matters. This session is designed to inspire action. Attendees will leave with a renewed understanding of why leadership is not a luxury for rural healthcare—it’s a lifeline. HomeTown Health will showcase practical strategies for championing leadership development within their own organizations and communities.
Next Session: June 5: Doing More with Less: Lean Six Sigma for Rural Hospitals with Jarvis Gray, The Quality Coaching Company
Enroll Now & Join Live on Friday |
Rural Hospital Support Grants: Due March 6
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The Dual Track FY26 Rural Hospital Support Grants are due March 6, 2026 by 11:59 pm. Applicants interested in applying to this Request for Grant Application (RFGA) must choose between the two (2) tracks: - Track 1-Hospital Stabilization
- Track 2-Graduate Medical Education
Click below for application details: |
Microsoft Offering Dragon Copilot Discount |
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Microsoft's Rural Health Resiliency program is now offering independent critical access, rural emergency, and rural community hospitals Dragon Copilot at a huge discount - and many free services to support its deployment. If you're an independent CAH, REH, or RCH reach out to ruralhealth@microsoft.com! If you need additional support making a connection with the Microsoft team, please let us know.
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| Upcoming Webinars & Events Monthly GA Provider Reimbursement Webinar
March 4 | 10 AM EST
Leadership Engagement Webinar: Empower. Lead. Transform. March 6 | 10 AM EST Monthly Medicare Update March 11 | 10 AM EST HTH Spring Conference | Jekyll Island
April 8-10 Florida Rural Quarterly Webinar April 22 | 11 AM EST Quarterly Coding & CDI Webinar April 23 | 10 AM EST Login at https://lms.hthu.net to register, enroll, attend live webinar sessions or view recordings of all webinar events! |
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April 8 - 10
Spring Conference at Jekyll Island
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July 14
Florida Virtual Education & Training
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October 21 - 23
Fall Conference at Callaway
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HomeTown Health named
Sapphire Award Winner by Wiley |
Congratulations to our certified practitioners, Lisa Carhuff,MSN, RN, Jessica Guy, MBA and Meghan Williams - their commitment to serving rural health teams with leadership development programs Everything DiSC and The Five Behaviors. HomeTown proudly offers these programs which include personalized assessments, coaching and team engagement. Learn more about these offerings and how they could benefit your team at www.hthu.net/4you
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| Quadax Received Best in KLAS Award
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RevSpring Received Best in KLAS Award
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RevSpring has been named the 2026 Best in KLAS for Patient Engagement. We would greatly appreciate your help in distributing the announcement to your members!
This year's award is the second in a row for RevSpring's PersonaPay Patient Payment Platform. Healthcare organizations using PersonaPay™ have achieved a 15%–50% increase in online payments, helping organizations improve financial performance while reducing friction for patients.
KLAS rankings reflect direct provider feedback and evaluate solutions across six key performance areas: culture, loyalty, operations, product, relationship, and value. RevSpring ended the year in the lead across all six categories. |
Partner Level: Silver Service Line: Insurance Discovery/Automated Presumptive Charity Care ARxChange
ARxChange is a revenue performance and financial integrity system—driving material insurance recovery, accurate charity-care realization, and auditable outcomes that are meaningful, repeatable, and revenue-enhancing and sustaining.
Our service lines will help you with: Missed insurance — uncovering primary, secondary, and retroactive coverage missed by standard RCM workflows, including Medicaid eligibility and
Automated presumptive charity — applying health-system-specific FAP logic post-encounter to accurately capture and classify charity, unlock DSH and HCTF / directed-payment–eligible reimbursements, recover state-linked funds, and maintain a Georgia-auditable record supporting state review, clawback defense, and multi-year retrospective validation.
Please contact: James Zadoorian: jzadoorian@arxchange.com
cell #: (716) 640-6567 or visit: ARxChange |
Price Transparency Guide
in Advance of April 1 |
With CMS price transparency enforcement beginning April 1, hospitals should ensure their compliance efforts extend beyond publishing a machine-readable file. Two key recommendations include: (1) verify that required footer links and the CMS-HPT.txt file are present, accurate, and easily accessible, and (2) confirm that machine-readable and shoppable services files are current, properly dated, and complete. Addressing these common gaps can help reduce the risk of compliance notices as enforcement ramps up.
Read all guidance here: https://slicedhealth.com/post/your-2026-price-transparency-guide-understanding-compliance/ |
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Questions? Need Assistance? Contact us at hthtech@hometownhealthonline.com
Reach us by phone at 470.655.6950 |
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