On April 18, the Commonwealth Fund released a case study written under the auspices of AcademyHealth’s Beacon Evidence and Innovation Network (BEIN) titled, “The Colorado Beacon Consortium: Strengthening the Capacity for Health Care Delivery Transformation in Rural Communities.” The case study focuses on the Colorado Beacon Consortium, one of 17 communities nationwide that was competitively selected to test and demonstrate how implementing new and/or enhancing existing health IT infrastructure could drive measurable improvements in care and health, and also reduce unnecessary costs. The Beacon Community Program was created as a landmark project of the HITECH Act, which was part of the 2009 economic stimulus package. Designed to support a diverse set of communities already recognized as leaders (or “beacons”) in implementing health IT infrastructure to support care delivery transformation and payment system innovations, the program aims to demonstrate the impact of further health IT investments on care quality, efficiency, and population health. Another aim of the program is to yield actionable insights and lessons learned to guide others wishing to embark on IT-enabled community transformation initiatives. Through the BEIN, AcademyHealth and the Commonwealth Fund have sought to maximize the quantity and utility of evidence generated by the Beacon Communities, and to amplify their experiences and insights through publication and dissemination support. This case study describes how the Colorado Beacon Consortium has used electronic health records to collect, analytic tools to interpret, and health information exchange platforms to share the rich clinical information necessary to support care transformation in seven rural counties on Colorado’s Western Slope. Early results indicate that system changes enabled by these IT tools are beginning to yield improvements in preventive and chronic care, as well as provider teamwork and workflow. The Colorado Beacon experience also lends important insights on how investments in health IT infrastructure support and facilitate ongoing health care delivery and payment reform efforts. As unprecedented effort and resources are being devoted to testing innovations in care delivery, coverage, and payment, attention to all forms of evidence will be critical. It may be years before we begin to fully understand or appreciate the impact of the Beacon Community Program and other initiatives, such as the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation’s Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Aligning Forces for Quality, but early signals and stories can contribute great value. This case study and future publications may yield useful insights for others engaging in community-based quality improvement initiatives, and may also heighten our collective awareness of key considerations, challenges, and promising practices. Communities across the United States—whether of similar or different demographics, geography, or socioeconomic status—may be able to learn from the Colorado Beacon experience and apply it to their own health IT implementation efforts. Through this case study and future BEIN publications, AcademyHealth, the Commonwealth Fund, and their partners hope to synthesize, translate, and move the knowledge gained from these 17 Beacon Communities into practice. To read the full case study, click here. To learn more about the BEIN, click here. To learn more about the Beacon Community Program, click here.