The Rural Health Information Hub (RHIhub) recently updated its topic guide for community health worker (CHW) initiatives, currently playing a prominent role in state Rural Health Transformation Program efforts across the country.

The site includes FAQs about CHW roles, training, certification, and a Community Health Workers Toolkit for guidance on planning, implementing, and sustaining a CHW program in your rural community.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) provides methods for Community Behavioral Health Clinics deliver services to military service members, veterans, and their families.

The resource features discussion about challenges and considerations for providing treatment in rural and remote areas. 

Findings from the 2026 KFF Women’s Health Survey show that health care costs remain a major barrier for many women, leading to delayed care to rationed medications to cuts in spending on basic needs. Read more

Also, the latest volume of The Monitor explores how women navigate contraceptive information, including which sources they trust and how misinformation can shape decisions. Read The Monitor

Rural voters’ frustrations about the cost of living in their community are growing and appear to be chipping away at Republicans’ enthusiasm to vote as the midterm elections near, according to findings from a new KFF/AP survey. Explore the poll findings

KFF Health News and the AP report on how rising costs are shaping rural voters’ views of the economy and the Trump administration. Read the story

The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) releases Financial Analysis 2025 – Volume Two, presenting a profile of Pennsylvania’s ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) during fiscal year 2025 (FY25). Volume Two examines the financial health of Pennsylvania’s ASCs and provides insight into outpatient visits, net patient revenue, operating income, and total income. Volume Two includes statewide and regional analysis based on data submitted by ASCs for each fiscal year.

The report examines 282 ASCs licensed in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that operated during at least part of FY25. This represents a decrease from the 287 ASCs operating during FY24. Between the two reporting periods, 14 ASCs closed while nine opened, resulting in a net decrease of five operating ASCs.

• Net Patient Revenue: The statewide net patient revenue Pennsylvania ASCs received for patient care increased 1.4% from $2.11 billion in FY24 to $2.14 billion in FY25. The average outpatient revenue per visit for ASCs during FY25 was $1,711 vs. $1,602 in FY24.
• Patient Volume: Pennsylvania’s ASCs reported a 5.1% decrease in the total number of outpatient visits from 1.32 million in FY24 to 1.25 million in FY25. Approximately 992 thousand major surgical outpatient procedures were performed at ASCs during FY25. These outpatient surgical procedures at ASCs during FY25 represented 33.3% of the total number of major outpatient surgical procedures performed in Pennsylvania. The remaining 66.7% were performed at general acute care hospitals outpatient departments.
• Margins: The statewide operating margin realized by the ASCs decreased 2.18 percentage points, from 29.52% in FY24 to 27.34% in FY25. The statewide total margin realized by the ASCs decreased 2.13 percentage points, from 29.35% in FY24 to 27.22% in FY25.

PHC4 is an independent council formed under Pennsylvania statute (Act 89 of 1986, as amended by Act 15 of 2020) in order to address rapidly growing health care costs. PHC4 continues to produce comparative information about the most efficient and effective health care to individual consumers and group purchasers of health services. In addition, PHC4 produces information used to identify opportunities to contain costs and improve the quality of care delivered.  For more information, visit phc4.org or review the full report here.

As artificial intelligence (AI) adoption grows nationwide, small businesses in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania are slower to adopt the technology, according to the Fed’s Small Business Credit Survey.

Below are some key findings:

• Firms in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania — the three states of the Fed’s Third District — have adopted AI at a lower rate than the U.S. overall (37 percent versus 46 percent), with most adopters describing themselves as still “experimenting” rather than fully integrating the technology.
• Writing/marketing, individual productivity, and planning/analysis are the top AI use cases among regional adopters.
• While 71 percent of firms reported productivity gains, over 70 percent saw no change in labor costs, sales, or production quality — suggesting AI hasn’t yet reshaped core operations or reduced headcount.

Read more.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) provides resources and information for behavioral health recovery support and services. These include a series of guides for recovery services in rural areas.

For this report, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) interviewed State agencies about their experiences implementing the USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and the WIC Farmer’s Market Nutrition Program (FMNP). 

This is the second annual report on USDA’s effort to modernize these programs that go beyond standard food assistance known as SNAP – the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – and provides benefit to low-income pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women as well as children up to age five.  The evaluation includes feedback on efforts in rural communities.

In April 2026, the Rural Health Value team held a national convening of rural health care leaders to learn about how organizations are making critical technology investment decisions as value-based care continues to evolve. This report highlights findings from the event and offers practical lessons and recommendations for leveraging health IT to support value-based care success.

A key takeaway from participants is that effective technology investments begin with people and processes, not technology alone. This material was developed by Rural Health Value, a national initiative – funded by cooperative agreement with the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy – to assist rural organizations, payers, and communities transition to value-based care.