Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative

Name

Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative

Legal name

Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative

Website

https://rwhc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1979

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative is a member-owned cooperative of 40 rural acute care hospitals, delivering shared professional services, quality programs, and educational residencies since 1979.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Sauk City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: RWHC is owned and operated by 40 rural acute, general medical-surgical hospitals. Members pay dues for access to cooperative services and programs.
2. Educational Services: Annual series fees for programs like RN Refresh ($3,500 for members, $4,200 for non-members), Communication Cornerstones ($2,400-$2,900), and various workshops and residencies on subscription or per-program basis.
3. Professional Services Fees: Coding consultation services, credentialing, compliance training, and other professional services offered to member and non-member healthcare organizations on a fee-for-service basis.
4. Quality Residency Program: Wisconsin Quality Residency Program: $250 per module or $2,500 for full 10-module program. Critical Access Hospital funding may be available through WORH Flex grant.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative is a member-owned cooperative founded in 1979 that delivers professional consulting services (medical coding, legal, community economic development, workforce development, payor contracting), quality programs (NCQA-certified credentials verification, ONC Health IT certified electronic clinical quality measures, peer review, provider quality measures), and educational programs (nurse and leadership residency programs, clinical education, coding education, specialty certification courses) to 40 member rural Wisconsin hospitals and other healthcare organizations nationwide.

Product overview

Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative (RWHC) is a healthcare cooperative owned by forty rural acute care hospitals since 1979, offering a comprehensive portfolio of professional services, quality programs, and educational services. The organization operates as a platform-plus-modules structure with four major service categories: Professional Services (coding consultation, community economic development, legal services, workforce development, and payer contracting entities including RWHC LLC and RWHC Network Inc.); Quality Programs (credentials verification, peer review, quality measures, and ONC-certified electronic clinical quality measures); Educational Services (clinical education, leadership development, nurse and leadership residency programs, and coding education); and Technical Services with Roundtables. The cooperative distinguishes itself through collaborative networking among both freestanding and system-affiliated rural hospitals, providing shared services that individual rural hospitals could not achieve independently.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Coding Consultation Service Provides coding audits for inpatient, ambulatory surgery, and emergency room settings; coding education and training including onsite programs, mentoring, and a reimbursement hotline; and per diem coding support for rural hospitals and other healthcare organizations.
• Community Economic Development Program Program helping members address social determinants of health including housing, childcare, broadband, economic opportunity, education, and transportation. Includes professional development, community economic analyses through a UW-Extension partnership, and a toolkit of CED strategies.
• Mystery Shopper Program Exclusively for RWHC members, this program aligns member hospitals to mystery shop one another's facilities through in-person, phone, and website evaluation methods to improve customer service experience. Offered at no cost to RWHC Members.
• Rural Contract Consulting Services (RCCS) Provides managed care contracting consulting services including contract negotiation on behalf of individual RWHC members to achieve effective managed care arrangements with payer partners.
• RWHC LLC Physician hospital organization enabling single signature contracting on managed care contracts for government sponsored programs including Medicare Advantage, Medicaid managed care, and Veterans programs for RWHC member hospitals.
• RWHC Network, Inc. Subsidiary dedicated to payor-provider contracting. Reviews payor contracts, suggests revisions and negotiation strategies, and provides managed care education. Membership is limited to RWHC Members.
• Speech and Audiology Services Provides speech pathology services to over 24 member hospitals including direct patient care, plus audiology services including diagnostic testing, hearing aid consultations and dispensing, and newborn hearing screening follow-up.
• Workforce Development Addresses healthcare workforce shortages through partnerships including the Wisconsin Academy of Rural Medicine (WARM), Wisconsin Collaborative for Rural Graduate Medical Education (WCRGME), Wisconsin Council on Medical Education & Workforce, and the Healthy Embodied Agile Leadership (HEAL) program.
• Credentials Verification Service (CVS) NCQA-certified Credentials Verification Organization providing primary source verification for healthcare practitioners. Includes continuous monitoring of Medicare/Medicaid sanctions, state licenses, and DEA with immediate notification of disciplinary actions. More than 20 years of experience.
• Peer Review Service Provides external peer reviews for physician specialties associated with rural practice, including anesthesiology by CRNAs. Focuses on quality of healthcare delivery from system-specific or clinical aspects.
• Provider Quality Measures Offers 13 rate-based provider-specific measures including stroke care, perioperative temperature management, diabetes care, osteoporosis treatment, kidney disease management, pneumonia vaccination, antibiotic stewardship, VTE prophylaxis, and anticoagulation therapy.
• Quality Indicators Program ONC Health IT certified program for hospital chart-abstracted core measures including inpatient ED throughput, perinatal care, sepsis, social drivers of health, substance use, and tobacco treatment. Submits Core Measures and ICD Population and Sampling reports and meets Joint Commission accreditation criteria.
• Electronic Clinical Quality Measures (eCQM) Solution ONC Health IT certified solution for submitting Electronic Clinical Quality Measures to CMS and Joint Commission for IQR and Promoting Interoperability. Covers 25 clinical quality measures including 9v5, 31v5, 32v6, 53v5, 55v5, 71v6, 72v5, 102v5, 104v5, 105v5, 107v5, 108v5, 111v5, 113v5, 190v5, 334v4, 506v3, 529v1, 816v2, 819v2, 844v4, 871v2, 986v2, 996v4, 1028v1.
• Reimbursement Credentialing Assists organizations with provider enrollment and maintenance for health plan contracts, Medicare, Medicaid, and CAQH applications. Includes initial enrollment fees and annual subscription for recredentialing every 3 years.
• Wisconsin Quality Residency Program Virtual 12-month program (February-December) with monthly modules from 9am-3:30pm CT for new or novice quality leaders. Co-developed by WHA and RWHC with support from WORH. Includes coach calls; Critical Access Hospitals may attend via WORH Flex grant funding. Pricing: $250 per module or $2,500 for the full 10-module program.
• RN Refresh Program Multi-tiered professional development initiative with 12 recorded sessions released annually. Targets RNs, LPNs, MAs, CNAs, CRNAs, NPs. Topics include time management, stroke care, CLABSI prevention, postpartum recovery, mental health first aid, resilient teams, infectious disease management, dementia care, work-life integration, cervical health, antibiotic stewardship, and EMTALA. Priced at $3,500 per facility for RWHC Members and $4,200 per facility for non-members.
• Clinical Education Series Clinical education for new and experienced nurses including workshops on arrhythmia interpretation, ER boot camp, OB boot camp, preceptor training, nursing supervision, pediatric assessment, and more. Uses simulation education and is available for on-site training to RWHC members.
• Coding Education Quarterly coding webinars covering ICD-10-CM/PCS updates, CPT changes, NCCI edits, HCC coding, CDI, and specialty areas including orthopedics, podiatry, genitourinary, wound care, and evaluation/management services.
• Communication Cornerstones Bi-monthly lunch-n-learn virtual subscription covering communication, conflict resolution, trust, service, confidentiality, and respect skills for all healthcare employees. Six sessions annually through June 2027. Priced at $2,400 per facility for RWHC Members and $2,900 per facility for non-members.
• Leadership Series Innovative leadership development series for new and experienced healthcare managers covering topics including project management, change management, emotional intelligence, coaching, customer service, onboarding, generational differences, and succession planning.
• Leadership Bites Monthly lunch-n-learn virtual subscription for healthcare supervisors and managers offering 45-minute sessions on leadership topics. Annual subscription at $275 per person with recordings and materials included.
• Leadership Residency Program Year-long bi-monthly leadership residency bringing together new healthcare leaders with less than one year of experience. Six 2-day in-person learning sessions plus coaching calls, email listserv, and portal access. Year 11 cohort with application deadline July 30, 2026.
• Lean Residency Program Four 2-day and one 1-day in-person learning sessions plus three 3-hour virtual coaching sessions teaching Lean principles including problem solving, leadership, engagement, and culture transformation.
• Nurse Residency Program Twelve-month structured program supporting nurse graduates through monthly learning days and Clinical Coach support. Includes Mental Health First Aid Certification. Cohorts start October 2026 and February 2027. Fees: $2,400 for first nurse and $1,800 for each additional for members; $2,880/$2,160 for non-members.
• OB Care in the ED - 9 Module Online Course Comprehensive 9-module online course for ED nurses covering emergency care for pregnant patients including trauma, emergent delivery, placental abruption, uterine rupture, pre-eclampsia/HELLP syndrome, and postpartum hemorrhage. Initial subscription: $2,500 per facility; renewal: $2,000 per facility; non-member: $3,000 initial, $2,400 renewal.
• Pediatric Assessment and Emergencies - 7 Module Online Course 7-module online course reviewing anatomy and physiology differences in pediatric patients, assessment findings indicating deterioration, and pediatric emergencies with priority interventions.

Quantifiable outcome

• NCQA certified Credentials Verification Service with over 20 years of experience
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• UW-Extension (University of Wisconsin Extension)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with UW-Extension to complete Community Economic Analyses of willing RWHC members' communities. Part of the RWHC Community Economic Development (CED) Program started in 2021.
• Quarles & Brady LLPcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-term relationship with Quarles & Brady law firm. Sarah Coyne, Partner, provides general counsel to RWHC members on cooperative business practices, medical staff issues, compliance, Medicare/Medicaid, managed care, and tax issues. Provides centralized legal services at discounted rates.
• Wisconsin Academy of Rural Medicine (WARM)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRWHC advocated for rural medical education at UW School of Medicine in Madison in the 1990s and developed WARM in collaboration with the School in 2004. RWHC continues as a major supporter.
• Wisconsin Collaborative for Rural Graduate Medical Education (WCRGME)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSponsored by RWHC, WCRGME addresses the shortage of rural primary care physicians through expansion of graduate medical education.
• Wisconsin Council on Medical Education & Workforce (WCMEW)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSponsored by RWHC, Wisconsin Hospital Association, and Wisconsin Medical Society. Wisconsin's foremost initiative addressing forecasted physician workforce shortages and promoting team-based healthcare.
• Wisconsin Center for Nursing (WCN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRWHC serves as co-lead with WCN for the national Campaign for Action sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and AARP.
• UW School of Family Medicine / Institute for Zen LeadershipminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEndorsement of Healthy Embodied Agile Leadership (HEAL) program offering promising results in resiliency to address physician burnout.
• Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-developer of Wisconsin Quality Residency Program along with RWHC and support from Wisconsin Office of Rural Health (WORH). Program offered since 2014.
• Wisconsin Office of Rural Health (WORH)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupport partner for Wisconsin Quality Residency Program. WORH Flex grant funding available for Critical Access Hospitals to attend quality residency modules.
• Walden UniversityminorOthersWalden University Resources listed as part of RWHC educational services offerings.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Vizient: Large national healthcare performance improvement and GPO organization serving a broad range of hospitals. Overlaps with RWHC in hospital quality improvement, analytics, and performance services but operates at vastly greater scale and national scope.
• Premier Inc: Major national healthcare GPO and performance improvement company serving thousands of hospitals. Comparable to RWHC in providing hospitals with quality, supply chain, and consulting services but with a national, investor-backed footprint.
• Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA): State-level hospital association and active RWHC partner (co-developer of Wisconsin Quality Residency). Serves a broader membership footprint and policy advocacy role; comparable in serving Wisconsin hospitals but with a non-cooperative, broader mandate.

Emerging players

• The Chartis Group: Healthcare consulting firm with a dedicated rural health practice serving rural and community hospitals. Overlaps with RWHC in strategy, payer-contracting, and operational consulting for rural providers, but as a private consultancy rather than a cooperative.
• Health Catalyst: Healthcare data and analytics platform serving hospitals and health systems with quality and performance measurement tools. Comparable to RWHC's eCQM and Quality Indicators offerings, though at larger national scale and with broader analytics scope.
• National Rural Health Association (NRHA): National nonprofit dedicated to rural health, providing advocacy, education, conferences, and resources to rural providers. Comparable to RWHC's rural-health mission and educational programming but at a national advocacy level rather than an operational service cooperative.

Regional players

• Minnesota Hospital Association: State hospital association serving Minnesota hospitals with education, quality, and workforce programs. Similar regional scope and rural hospital focus to RWHC, though structured as an industry association rather than a hospital-owned cooperative.
• Iowa Hospital Association: State hospital association serving Iowa hospitals with advocacy, education, and quality/regulatory support. Comparable to RWHC in mission and rural focus, but operating as a state association rather than a member-owned cooperative.

Direct peers

• Stratis Health: Minnesota-based nonprofit focused on healthcare quality improvement, patient safety, and rural health services for hospitals and providers. Operates a similar nonprofit/network model delivering quality programs and education across rural Upper Midwest hospitals.
• National Cooperative of Health Networks Association (NCHN): A national membership association specifically for health network organizations, sharing RWHC's cooperative, member-driven model for supporting rural healthcare delivery. NCHN is the closest organizational analogue operating at the network-of-networks level.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/rwhc

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative