Rural hospitals have long been burdened with declining patient volumes, low insurance reimbursements, increasing payer denials, rising supply and labor costs, and other industry challenges.

The passage last year of the federal 2025 Budget Reconciliation Bill, dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), could possibly make matters worse for many community and rural hospitals leaders, who are trying to navigate a rocky, ever-evolving healthcare landscape.

Provisions of the OBBBA, which went into effect this year, will slash spending and impose eligibility restrictions on federally subsidized healthcare programs. The legislation will have its greatest impact on rural hospitals, which rely heavily on these programs to stay financially afloat. It’s expected to create lower Medicaid patient volume resulting in more uninsured patients and an increase in uncompensated care. 

A Viable Solution to Bolster Revenue Cycle Performance

OBBBA’s impact sends a loud and clear message to hospital leaders: Be proactive in maximizing revenue cycle processes or face the consequences of inaction, including closure or severe service cutbacks.

In other words, providers must transform their Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) systems and processes from a back-office expense into a strategic driver of financial strength and long-term sustainability. Doing so enables them to expedite payments, minimize costs, and foster resiliency.

Rural hospitals stand to benefit the most from optimizing RCM. That’s because they are more vulnerable to inefficient billing and collection practices than their larger counterparts, which typically have more resources to withstand the demands of today’s challenging healthcare environment. In rural healthcare, the problem largely stems from facilities lacking experienced personnel and the technology needed to optimize the revenue cycle.    

Inefficient revenue cycle practices can lead to a 3%-5% annual loss in net patient revenue, a significant amount for many small hospitals and health systems already operating with razor-thin margins.

A Flexible, Cost-Effective Approach to Improve Revenue Cycle

Hospitals now have an opportunity to adopt a more effective, efficient way to appreciably improve their revenue cycle with Options RCM, a newly launched service offered by CHC Consulting, the consulting arm of Community Hospital Corporation (CHC).

Options RCM offers a comprehensive, flexible, and affordable solution that covers the entire revenue cycle. The solution provides advanced technology, implements proven processes, and gives access to highly trained personnel. It enables hospitals to accelerate cash flow, cut costs, reduce payer denials, fill staffing gaps with experienced RCM professionals, build financial and operational sustainability, and preserve local healthcare access.

Providing state-of-the-art technology solutions across the entire revenue cycle, Options RCM includes front-end processes and verification to billing, denial management, and payment validation.

Additionally, Options RCM offers clients a choice in its implementation. With Options RCM, hospitals can choose to outsource the entire function to compensate for limited resources or opt for a customized solution that focuses on a specific area of need, allowing them to maintain control over their RCM system.

Weathering a Perfect Storm of Challenges

A perfect storm of regulatory, economic, and demographic headwinds is taking its toll on many small-town hospitals that lack critical resources to meet their communities’ healthcare needs. Overcoming these challenges requires that providers eliminate revenue cycle inefficiencies that threaten performance and stability.    

Options RCM offers a practical and innovative solution for rural hospitals to help achieve financial and operational resiliency that is essential for providing quality healthcare to their communities.