Using Digital Health Solutions to Address Rural Healthcare Disparities

Rural Healthcare Disparities

The United States Census Bureau defines rural areas as home to over 46 million Americans, or 15% of the population, with a growing body of research from the CDC exposing the significant health gap between rural and urban populations. Compared to their urban counterparts, rural Americans encounter many health disparities resulting from access barriers.

"Specialists are often more concentrated in urban areas, making access to specialty healthcare challenging for patients in rural parts of the country," LeVasseur explained.

In rural communities, residents are more prone to succumb to heart disease, cancer, unintentional injury, chronic lower respiratory disease, and stroke — with unintentional injury deaths being approximately 50% higher compared to urban areas, partly due to an increased risk of death from opioid overdoses and motor vehicle crashes.

"When patients have convenient and timely access to necessary medical care, preventable conditions and ailments are less likely to become severe or life-threatening."

In the US, data shows that rural residents are older and less healthy than their urban counterparts. Additionally, children living in rural areas with mental, behavioral, and developmental disorders face greater community and family challenges than their urban counterparts with similar disorders.

These challenges highlight the urgent need for additional attention and resources to enhance the health of rural America, which could include improved public health programs to promote healthier behaviors and neighborhoods and better access to healthcare services.

“Patients in rural areas have to travel 2 or 3 times farther to get medical care than those in urban settings,” LeVasseur added. "Strategies for addressing rural healthcare disparities should point to closing this accessibility gap."

Improving Rural Healthcare with Digital Health Solutions

To address these issues, digital health solutions have emerged as a promising strategy to increase access to specialty care in rural areas in recent years, said LeVasseur.

With limited access to medical facilities and healthcare professionals, people living in remote areas often need help to receive the care they need. However, technological advances enable healthcare providers to provide diagnoses and treatment methods more quickly in rural communities.

"Digital health solutions, like eConsults, are crucial to getting patients' care faster because they can be treated early and directly by their primary care provider," mentioned LeVasseur.

Electronic consultations, or eConsults, allow primary care physicians to quickly treat lower-acuity issues and provide medical guidance from specialists nationwide without their patients leaving the primary care office. This means that patients have an easier time getting the treatment they need, and specialists can keep their patient lists to those who genuinely need to see them in person.

By removing the burden from the patient to access care, patients can receive specialty-informed treatment faster and by the trusted provider they have chosen that meets their individual and cultural requirements, explained LeVasseur. When patients can receive specialty-informed treatment faster, both care is accessed sooner, and specialists cut down on overcrowded waiting rooms.

"A key way to address emergency department overcrowding is by giving patients the care they need faster. Digital health solutions can address emergency room overcrowding resulting from patients being unable to access the specialty care they need in a timely manner,” LeVasseur insisted.

Using digital health solutions can significantly improve the accessibility of specialty healthcare in rural areas and result in faster care and improved outcomes — ultimately leading to better health equity in rural areas.

Challenges of Integrating Digital Health Solutions

Implementing digital health solutions comes with its challenges. For example, change management can be a significant obstacle, as many primary care providers have been apprehensive about navigating new difficulties while adjusting to new digital health tools.

“Change management is a major challenge,” continued LeVasseur. “Unfortunately, many primary care providers have been burned by digital health solutions and are apprehensive about navigating the change that comes with learning to use a new digital health tool."

Cost can also be a deterrent. However, according to LeVasseur, implementing health technology with an immediate return on investment (ROI) is a real opportunity. To ensure that the implemented digital health solutions are accessible and affordable to all patients, regardless of income or geographic location, reimbursement is critical.

"Digital health solutions should be designed and implemented to ensure they are accessible and affordable to all patients, regardless of income," LeVasseur stressed.

For millions, digital health solutions can transform healthcare delivery in rural areas and improve health outcomes. While there are still challenges to be overcome, these advanced technologies are likely to play an increasingly important role in the future of rural healthcare.