Improving Rural Health Outcomes with Technology
Baha Zeidan, CEO of Azalea Health, explores how technology can bridge healthcare gaps in rural America. Discover innovative solutions to enhance rural healthcare services.
Rural healthcare providers face unique and unprecedented challenges, from facility closures to talent shortages to limited resources.
However, the patients they serve deserve the same quality care that residents in urban and suburban areas receive. Unfortunately, it’s often impossible because there aren’t enough healthcare providers where they are most needed.
Primary care deserts—locations without adequate access to health care—are a growing threat. These deserts might lack primary care providers, trauma centers, and pharmacies.
According to the American Hospital Association, 97% of America’s land is rural, and 20% of Americans (61 million) live in rural communities. Startling data from GoodRx Research found that more than 80% of counties nationwide do not have proper access to the services needed to maintain health.
Understanding how technology can help alleviate care deserts across rural America requires examining how its use — or lack thereof — greatly impacts rural health and patient care.
Technology is the great equalizer, and the increased technology adoption is helping providers maximize their revenues and improve patient outcomes. The biggest misperception is that only large, urban healthcare providers use technology to shape the patient experience and improve outcomes.
Smaller and rural providers have an opportunity to deploy solutions that allow them to do more with their limited resources. Just because a patient lives in a rural area doesn’t mean they’re not entitled to quality healthcare; outcomes shouldn’t be tied to zip codes, and technology can make that possible.
The beauty of technology is that it works on two tracks: behind the scenes and with patients. As more facilities shutter their doors, the industry needs to consider solutions that can help transition it into the 21st-century healthcare that is possible and that patients deserve.
All Technology Is Not Created Equal
While technology can equalize outcomes, not all solutions are the same. Even as the world has grown more accustomed to digital offerings, providers still have an opportunity to integrate healthcare management into their processes.
Many institutions, large and small, struggle with the administrative side of the business. Every minute an organization spends on administrative tasks is a minute it isn’t focused on serving patients.
These struggles are often behind institutions’ decisions to close a location, further exacerbating the country’s healthcare deserts.
Too many providers think of technology as an addition to their processes and don’t fully use it as designed. Instead, they need to look at it as an enabler. Every application or use of technology must solve a problem and ensure that every function, whether seen by the patient or not, is streamlined.
A Health Information Exchange (HIE) also allows health professionals and patients to access and securely share a patient’s vital medical information electronically, increasing the quality of care and reducing the workload on staff and patients. This connectivity brings rural patients and providers powerful technology they otherwise would not be able to access.
Estimates show that providers could save 10-15 minutes per patient when using an HIE to query patient records. This time could be spent improving health outcomes instead of rehashing years of medical history.
Every dollar an organization invests in its technological foundation will pay dividends — calculated in cost and time savings. For starters, providers can see more patients and streamline their back-office procedures.
Simplify the Complexity
Massive amounts of data often burden the healthcare industry. While critical to making informed decisions, too much data can paralyze providers; they don’t know where to look for information or how to analyze what they have properly.
Instead of viewing it as an albatross, providers need to turn it into an asset.
Without the ability to analyze data, providers may waste time scrutinizing patient charts or only cursorily reviewing details. Additionally, healthcare’s fragmented nature makes presenting and interpreting data meaningfully and straightforwardly challenging.
The industry cannot and should not eliminate the data it collects. However, rather than digging through reams of data, providers need to quickly glean insights from the information at hand and use it to improve patient outcomes.
To be more profitable, healthcare providers need to simplify this complexity. Automation can help providers more quickly process the key details needed to act.
For instance, patients should receive the essential information they need to know, physicians should receive relevant data to make informed decisions, and billing departments should get accurate information to ensure that all revenue is claimed and accounted for correctly.
Access to care through technology allows physicians and patients to make better decisions and communicate those decisions. There are too many blind spots in healthcare, and inaccessible or unusable data doesn’t need to be another, particularly when easily solved.
Additionally, solutions like telehealth allow providers to close the distance gap. Adopting telehealth eliminates the need for patients to travel long distances to receive basic care they might not otherwise be able to access.
See More: Integrating Telehealth Innovations in Primary Care
Spend Less Time on Compliance
Compounding the landscape, regulatory compliance represents a major expense for hospitals and health clinics, often requiring providers to hire additional personnel to understand and comply with constantly changing rules.
When money is tight, providers must choose between hiring personnel to serve patients or complying with administrative regulations. Healthcare facilities must bear the cost because compliance with state and federal regulations is not optional.
Every dollar spent on regulations is one less dollar that providers can allocate to patients, potentially making perilous financial situations insurmountable. However, failing to meet regulatory requirements can prove even more expensive in the long run.
Rural providers often face additional challenges, such as higher instances of disease and chronic conditions, geographical barriers, and higher rates of elderly patients.
Additionally, the healthcare industry is experiencing a shortage of skilled workers. However, hospitals and clinics can use technology to mitigate these challenges and ensure they can focus their resources on the most important initiatives.
A system that can handle the complexities of rural health settings and facilitate the revenue cycle can help alleviate the burden. With the right technology, healthcare organizations can simplify the management of federal and state regulations, including Medicare and Medicaid requirements.
Electronic health records platforms can securely store data, maintain records, and process payments, reducing the burden on already-stretched teams.
No one is arguing for the elimination of all regulations. However, when regulations become so burdensome that they hinder providers’ ability to serve patients, providers must adjust course.
Not everyone lives in an urban or suburban area, and with the rise in remote work, workers don’t need to live in one to build a successful career.
The industry and communities without adequate healthcare providers can ill-afford more hospital and clinic closures. The industry must also focus on approaches that help eliminate existing healthcare deserts.
Unfortunately, facility closures are likely to continue without a drastic shift in healthcare delivery. Instead of accepting the status quo, now is the time to consider how harnessing technology can improve outcomes.
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