In the healthcare industry, large organizations face significant challenges due to their size and complexity. Cross-departmental coordination is a critical requirement to mitigate risk, often leading to bureaucratic inertia. Large hospitals rely on massive, centralized systems designed for economies of scale, but these can be slow and costly to alter. When faced with problems, these institutions typically turn to technology as a solution, inflating capital expenditure (Capex) budgets and return on investment (ROI) benchmarks, thus creating barriers to change.

Rural hospitals are essential cornerstones of the communities they serve, yet they face unique challenges in assessing the quality of healthcare services they offer. One significant challenge arises from low patient volumes which, while potentially indicative of effective healthcare or healthier populations, can distort quality metrics. This distortion makes benchmarking performance against national standards a complex endeavor. Through the lens of MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) infections, we can gain valuable insight into this issue.