Rural hospitals are finding ways to innovate in order to meet tough healthcare challenges, according to Hospitals & Health Networks. 

Many rural hospitals are the only healthcare providers in their communities, as well as the largest employer, making them the lifeblood of small towns across the U.S. They struggle to attract and retain physicians and to serve patients who tend to be sicker, poorer and older than those in urban areas. Rural hospitals struggle to embrace the risks and rewards of a system that links payments to the quality of the care they provide--but some are finding ways to innovate and survive, according to the article.

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