In a joint commentary, authors from the Episcopal Health Foundation (EHF), the Texas Association of Community Health Centers (TACHC), and the Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals (TORCH) argue that clinically integrated networks (CINs), not one-off provider-payer deals, should be the core investment strategy for Texas's Rural Health Transformation Program effort, known as Rural Texas Strong. They cite EHF-funded evaluations of two statewide CINs, TACHC's My Texas My Health and the TORCH Clinically Integrated Network, as evidence that shared infrastructure, including data analytics, care management, quality improvement tools, and value-based contracting expertise, can scale across dozens of rural and safety-net providers more efficiently than funding individual provider-MCO partnerships. The authors note EHF has invested more than $2 million building this CIN infrastructure over several years, ahead of the state's current rural transformation planning. As Texas HHSC begins allocating Rural Texas Strong funds, the piece urges policymakers to channel public investment toward shared CIN platforms rather than fragmented, provider-by-provider arrangements.
Why it mattersState Medicaid and rural health officials deciding how to allocate Rural Health Transformation Program dollars face a direct choice between funding fragmented provider-MCO deals or scalable shared infrastructure that could determine whether rural safety-net providers can sustain value-based contracting long term.