REGISTER: June 5 IHA Small and Rural Webinar on AI Sustainability
Once you identify how artificial intelligence (AI) can deliver value for your patients and your organization, adopting and implementing the new technology requires careful consideration and implementation. An IHA webinar on June 5 will address implementation, measurement and sustainability specific to small and rural hospitals and health systems.

Expert presenter William “Marty" Martin of DePaul University will lead the noon-1 p.m. CT webinar focused on:

• Metrics for AI that align with organizational goals;

• Strategies for scaling AI pilots across organizations;

• Emerging challenges like data quality, cybersecurity and ethical concerns; and

• Sustainable AI programs with continuous learning and adaptation mechanisms.

By attending, you'll hear how to apply structured planning tools to your organization to develop a practical 30-60-90-day action plan to guide implementation and sustainability. The per webinar member fee is $195 for hospitals and $395 for health systems. The session recording will be available for 30 days after the live event. Register today.

We also encourage small and rural hospital leaders to attend the 2026 IHA Small & Rural Hospitals Annual Meeting on June 18 and pre-conference workshops on June 17. See our registration website for more information and to register.

Staff contact: Bridget McCarte

Revised Virtual Town Hall Schedule on Proposed Cyber Incident Reporting Rule
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) yesterday released a revised schedule for its series of virtual town hall meetings for public input on proposed rulemaking for the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022. The meetings were originally scheduled for March and April but were not held due to the partial shutdown of the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security. They will now begin June 15. CISA is seeking input to finalize a proposed rule originally issued in March 2024 that would require critical infrastructure organizations, including hospitals and health systems, to report certain cyber incidents to CISA within 72 hours and ransom payments within 24 hours, among other mandates. The American Hospital Association has commented on the rule, calling certain proposed requirements redundant to those from other federal agencies and saying that they may add unnecessary burden to hospitals working to ensure access to needed services during cybersecurity incident response.

Updated Colorectal Cancer Screening Guidelines, Blood Test Option Added
The American Cancer Society (ACS) has released updated colorectal cancer screening guidelines that include the addition of a blood-based screening test to be taken in a doctor’s office. The blood test, which detects tumor DNA in the blood, is only recommended for individuals who decline or do not complete preferred screening tests. The organization said a colonoscopy remains the primary recommendation for screening. The blood test has been found to be less effective in detecting advanced precancerous lesions and stage I cancers, according to the ACS. In addition, the organization announced guidelines for using stool-based tests by Cologuard and ColoSense. The ACS reaffirmed that individuals at average risk for colorectal cancer begin screening at age 45.