To avoid closures, mergers or reduced services, some rural hospitals are banding together

A mobile MRI machine services and costs can be
shared by a network of hospitals. (KFF Health photo)

A growing number of independent rural hospitals are joining networks that allow them to meet their community's health care needs without operating in the red or being pushed into a merger, reports Arielle Zionts of KFF Health News. While such medical networks have existed for decades, their popularity as a lifeline for rural hospitals is relatively new.

In North Dakota, 22 hospitals banded together to form the Rough Rider Network, which "used its members' combined patient rolls to negotiate better prices," Zionts writes. "The networks are an alternative to shutting down or reducing services, or to giving up local autonomy and joining a large hospital system."

The Rough Rider Network was formed with the help of an independent company, Cibolo, which worked on hospital partnerships. Zionts writes, "Cibolo Health has helped start networks in Minnesota, Nebraska, Montana, and Ohio."

Hospitals that team up with other hospitals can opt to share specialist providers, expensive diagnostic equipment, mobile clinic opportunities, and even "pool staffers for a network-wide employee health insurance plan," Zionts adds.

Rural health care providers are "increasingly interested in forming such networks, said Marnell Bradfield, executive director of the Community Care Alliance, a network of hospitals and independent primary care offices in rural western Colorado," Zionts reports. "About once a month, she said, she gets a call from health care leaders exploring similar networks and asking about her experience."

Banding together to keep small town hospitals open does more than provide nearby medical care for a community. It's also "beneficial for the economy of rural areas, where hospitals are often major employers," Zionts writes. "Some networks also invest in broadband, housing, and other community development projects that can help people stay healthy and access care."