As Florida Senate President Ben Albritton works to revive his “rural renaissance” plan to revitalize low-population areas of the state, a Texas-based company is launching its own rural initiative to boost health care access, quality and outcomes in rural areas across the nation, including the Sunshine State. The initiative is centered on connecting data, systems, and partners to interoperate and enable better coordination and decision-making across rural health ecosystems. Gainwell Technologies, a provider of digital and cloud-enabled health and human services program solutions, has launched its Gainwell Rural Health Transformation Collaborative, a nationwide initiative working to stabilize rural hospitals, expand access to care and build long-term sustainability in underserved communities. The collaborative brings together state agencies, health care providers and technology and community partners in a connected model that supports the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP). Gainwell serves as the data integrator and information broker enabling collaboration among participants to support program design, funding, and outcomes reporting. As a self-described innovator in health care technology and Medicaid modernization, Gainwell expects additional partners to join its collaborative from heath care, policy and technology sectors as the program gets underway and expands. The collaborative is developing a Rural Health Data Toolbox, integrating Medicaid data platforms, social care networks, and third-party applications, such as telehealth or care management systems, with analytics tools into one streamlined framework. This shared data foundation helps states simplify planning, align to CMS guidelines, and measure outcomes across programs. Simultaneously, the collaborative is working to equip rural hospitals with the technology and information to improve operations and maintain or establish financial resilience. Rather than delivering care or funding operations, Gainwell enables state agencies to use data insights to strengthen operations, model financial performance, and identify sustainability strategies. Gainwell leaders emphasize that data, not just dollars will drive sustainability. “Rural hospitals are the lifeblood of their communities, yet too many are at risk,” Gainwell Chief Client Officer Bill Allison said. “Through this collaborative, we’re uniting technology, policy, and partnership to help states and providers not only survive, but thrive, creating a sustainable future for rural healthcare.” Launched last month, the timing in Florida is opportune. Albritton, in his first year as Senate President, fought doggedly for his rural renaissance package, which among other provisions includes plans for improving rural health care, including through improved infrastructure and technology access. His push was successful in the Senate, but died in the 11th hour in the House. Now, he’s reviving the effort. But the problems that plagued his first attempt may still exist in the 2026 Legislative Session. At issue was an impasse between Gov. Ron DeSantis and House Speaker Daniel Perez over tax cuts. The sparring was over whether to implement Perez’s preferred sales tax cut or DeSantis’ push for large property tax reductions. Albritton’s rural renaissance package was a casualty of the GOP infighting. Already, it appears that fight, which led to 45 extra days of the 2025 Legislative Session, may spill over into the 2026 lawmaking term. The House proposed several options in October to lower property taxes that would be put before voters, who could approve “some, all, or none” of the options on the 2026 ballot, Perez said. DeSantis rejected all of them, potentially setting up yet another showdown. But with a large company like Gainwell it boasts more than a half-century of expertise in the health care space at least one component of Albritton’s priority legislation could get a new talking point. An op-ed in collaboration with Gainwell and published by Becker’s Hospital Review earlier this month, posited that gains in rural health care need more than just funding to be successful, data is also an integral part of the plan. That includes evaluating where needs exist and what barriers need to be overcome, information that can be accomplished by mapping states’ existing data access. By better understanding data, or where data is lacking, Medicaid and its partners can bridge gaps ranging from clinical records and workforce data to social determinants of health to better design for the future and enable targeted action, according to its op-ed. And just because the company recognizes the critical role data plays in establishing sustainable health systems in rural communities, it also does not ignore the need for funding to implement successful strategies. Already, that’s coming to fruition. A total of $10 billion per year is being made available through the RHTP, which requires an extensive application to access. Half of the information required on the application related to the rural characteristics of the state, such as rural populations and how many hospitals serve them. The other half loosely relates to aligning with the Trump administration’s policies and health care priorities, information that, at least to some extent, relies on data access. “The balance here is how you achieve the goals the feds have laid out from a data infrastructure (and) interoperability perspective to provide sustainability to rural hospitals,” Gainwell Senior Vice President Rushil Desai said, according to the Healthcare Financial Management Association. Through the Gainwell Rural Health Transformation Collaborative, the company is building the data infrastructure to drive measurable clinical and economic improvements supporting initiatives that reduce maternal mortality, expand behavioral health access, and improve chronic disease management, all while empowering rural partners to act on insights.
https://floridapolitics.com/archives/767005-gainwell-technologies-new-rural-health-data-collaborative-could-help-power-ben-albrittons-rural-renaissance/
Gainwell Technologies’ new rural health data collaborative could help power Ben Albritton’s rural renaissance
