As
cybersecurity
threats
intensify
and
digital
demands
grow,
rural
hospitals
—
often
operating
on
shoestring
budgets
with
skeleton
IT
crews
—
face
disproportionate
risks.
To
help
address
this,
Microsoft
recently
launched
an
initiative
aimed
at
shoring
up
cybersecurity
and
expanding
access
to
AI
in
the
country’s
rural
communities.
The
program
launched
about
18
months
ago
in
response
to
outreach
from
the
White
House,
the
American
Hospital
Association
(AHA)
and
National
Rural
Health
Association
(NRHA)
about
rural
providers’
cybersecurity
vulnerabilities.
The
initiative
has
grown
considerably
since
then,
with
Microsoft
now
working
with
more
than
700
rural
hospitals
nationwide,
said
Laura
Kreofsky,
the
tech
giant’s
rural
health
director,
last
month
during
an
interview
at
the
HFMA
Annual
Conference
in
Denver.
All
the
pressures
that
healthcare
providers
face
—
like
staffing,
cybersecurity
and
digital
transformation
—
are
“amplified”
for
rural
hospitals
due
to
their
smaller
budgets
and
fewer
resources,
Kreofsky
explained.
She
zeroed
in
on
cybersecurity,
noting
that
rural
providers
often
lack
dedicated
IT
and
cybersecurity
staff,
which
leaves
them
vulnerable
to
attacks
and
slows
down
modernization
efforts.
“This
is
no
joke.
I
work
with
hospitals
where
Wayne
is
the
IT
guy
on
Tuesdays,
and
then,
on
Thursdays,
he’s
at
the
bait
shop,
and
on
Fridays,
he’s
at
the
hardware
store
—
so
they
are
struggling
to
just
keep
up
with
the
change
of
technology,”
Kreofsky
explained.
Microsoft’s
rural
health
program
gives
rural
providers
free
access
to
things
like
cybersecurity
assessments,
cyber
awareness
training
and
tech
product
support.
The
company
also
offers
deep
discounts
—
typically
in
the
60–75%
off
range
—
on
its
tools
and
software
for
critical
access
and
rural
emergency
hospitals,
Kreofsky
stated.
These
discounted
tools
have
built-in
cybersecurity
features,
allowing
hospitals
to
upgrade
while
spending
less,
she
added.
“What
do
you
do
with
these
savings?
You
put
them
to
good
use
—
keeping
your
doors
open,
being
able
to
hire
more
nurses,
being
able
to
get
your
cyber
staff
and
your
IT
staff
more
training
and
the
certifications
they
need
to
help
keep
the
environment
safe,”
Kreofsky
remarked.
Microsoft
is
also
aiming
to
help
level
the
innovation
playing
field
through
its
rural
health
AI
lab.
Two
cohorts
of
rural
hospitals
have
collaborated
with
the
company
to
build
AI
tools
for
use
cases
including
optimizing
outbound
referral
workflows
and
automating
insurance
claim
denials,
Kreofsky
noted.
In
her
view,
the
lab
demystifies
AI
for
rural
IT
teams.
“I
think
we’ve
also
sparked
innovation
in
some
of
these
rural
hospitals.
I
can
think
of
a
hospital
in
Southern
Oregon
with
a
CIO
who
was
part
of
the
first
cohort
of
hospitals.
Now,
he
and
his
team
are
building
their
own
AI
tools,
and
he
literally
said
to
me,
‘If
you
would
have
told
me
a
year
ago
that
my
team
would
be
building
generative
AI
tools,
I
would
have
said,
You’re
joking,
right?’”
Kreofsky
said.
With
the
right
support
and
tools,
she
believes
there
is
a
path
forward
where
rural
hospitals
can
turn
their
scrappy
resilience
into
lasting
innovation.
Photo:
marekuliasz,
Getty
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