Nordic, a Madison-based global health and technology consulting company, announced a new initiative with Microsoft in collaboration with the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) to establish a national Rural Health IT Community. The community will advocate for and be the recipients of policy, programs, and services specific to rural health care, foster collaboration between rural hospitals and global technology leaders, and increase the use of innovative technologies that protect vulnerable rural healthcare organizations.
The Rural Health IT Community, open to all digital health leaders and solution providers interested in supporting the needs of this critical health care market, will launch at the CHIME Fall Forum with an informative Sunrise Session on Nov. 6.
With nearly one in five people in the U.S. living in rural areas, there is a need to protect rural health care organizations by providing access to advanced tools and resources and encouraging adoption of new innovations. The group is being formed to provide rural digital health leaders and their teams with a dedicated forum to connect, share solutions, and drive innovation in the communities they serve. Insights gathered during member meetings will inform the strategic priorities the Rural Health IT Community will focus on solving.
With cyberattacks against health care systems on the rise, the Rural Health IT Community’s first program is focused on improving cybersecurity to help rural hospitals, which often have limited resources, address growing threats and events that can severely impact operations and compromise private health data. Both Nordic and Microsoft bring unique offerings to the rural health care market. Nordic recently launched its third-party vulnerability management service, and Microsoft recently announced the Microsoft Cybersecurity Program for Rural Hospitals.
