Partners in Rural Health Transformation Webinar Series

The CMS Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Program places states at the center of efforts to strengthen access, quality, and sustainability in rural health systems. As states move from planning to implementation, success depends on effective leadership, strong partnerships, and practical approaches that reflect the realities of rural communities.

This three-part national webinar series, hosted by AscendRural, brought together state leaders, health plans, and innovators from across the country to explore how rural health transformation would be implemented on the ground. Through real-world perspectives and cross-sector discussion, the series explored what it takes to translate the RHT framework into meaningful, lasting change.

Webinar 1: Engaging Startups in Rural Health Transformation

In this webinar, we heard from three innovators about how they are approaching Rural Health Transformation. Our key takeaways from the session included:

  • Startups are responding to feedback from states about valuing collaborative, ecosystem-based approaches that bring together complementary partners. Cohorts help reduce administrative burden, strengthen applications, and foster more integrated care workflows that align with state priorities.

  • Startups are finding that each state’s implementation structure is unique — from funding flows to partnership models. Rather than pursuing all 50 states at once, successful innovators are prioritizing a smaller set of states where alignment, funding allocation, and partnership readiness are strongest. A depth-over-breadth strategy is emerging as more effective for long-term traction.

  • Startups are recognizing that while RHTP funding represents meaningful opportunity, long-term success depends on sustainability beyond pilot dollars. The most compelling approaches start small, define measurable outcomes early, and identify clear reimbursement or funding pathways from the outset. Building sustainability into the model from day one strengthens both state alignment and long-term viability.

Webinar 2: The Role of Health Plans in Rural Health Transformation

This session welcomed three health plan leaders to discuss their role in Rural Health Transformation. Our key takeaways from this session included:

  • The panel emphasized the “three-legged stool” of community/CBOs, providers, and payers—plus alignment with state priorities— because no single actor can solve rural sustainability alone. Health plans also stressed they’re “only part of the equation”: states have submitted their applications with designated pillars, so plans need to look at the state’s priorities and ask “where do we as MCOs add value?” (and where vendors or direct state partnerships add value instead) —in other words, “de-centering” themselves while still showing up as a strong partner.

  • Panelists emphasized that rural communities aren’t monolithic: what works in rural Georgia may not work in rural Wisconsin or New Jersey.

    The way through that tension is to pair local design with a scaling mindset: identify the “core elements” that can travel (shared principles, repeatable building blocks), then adapt the implementation to each place. Practically, that means building with local providers and community partners, hiring locally, meeting people where they are (inperson, phone, video), and accounting for constraints like broadband access, community preferences and realities around technology.

  • Speakers stressed planning early for what happens when enhanced funding sunsets, and leaning into strong local pilot partners (providers/CBOs/vendors) to implement quickly, prove impact, and create a real path to scale. They also underscored the role of “pilot-facilitators” (like AscendRural) to help stand up pilots, capture learnings, and translate what works into scalable, lasting approaches.

Webinar 3: State Leadership in Rural Health Transformation

This final webinar centred the role of states as the primary drivers of rural health transformation. State leaders and partners shared how they are designing and implementing RHT programs within their unique rural contexts—balancing federal goals with local realities.

  • Panelists emphasized that there is no single playbook for rural health transformation. States are balancing common goals with local realities, designing approaches that can scale while still adapting to the specific needs, assets, and constraints of different rural communities within their states.

  • A key theme from these leaders was that the technology itself is often the easiest part. Success depends on having the staffing, provider relationships, coordination, and operational readiness to actually use it well in rural settings.

  • A common theme between all three webinars, this conversation reinforced that success is not just about moving quickly or funding short-term projects. States are prioritizing practical, implementable efforts that strengthen workforce capacity, improve access, and create models that can last beyond the initial funding period.