Providing healthcare in rural areas presents unique challenges that demand innovative medical solutions. Rural residents face different obstacles than their urban counterparts, including geographic isolation, less access to health insurance and other health services, economic factors, and cultural and social differences. Many of these factors can impact the quality of healthcare they receive, including the availability of doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals.
Healthcare in rural settings requires more than a doctor and nurse, of course. Tangible things like hospital beds, operating rooms and laboratories are essential, along with diagnostic equipment such as X-ray machines, computerized axial tomography (CAT) scans, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Medical supplies, instruments and equipment such as scalpels, sutures, gloves, bandages and blood also need to be available. A number of other essential items are needed, including pharmaceuticals like antibiotics and opiates, vaccines, medical-grade disinfectants, cleaning devices, autoclaves, and more.
In addition to these tangible healthcare infrastructure needs, rural patients face more difficulty accessing specialized care. Travel to reach primary and subspecialty providers can be challenging for individuals with low incomes, who may lack paid time off from work or have limited transportation options. This can lead to patients substituting local primary care providers for specialty care or forgoing necessary treatments altogether.
Telehealth can be a valuable tool to help address this challenge. For example, in rural communities without access to a dentist, residents can use telehealth to consult with dental experts to get the care they need. However, telehealth use in rural communities can be complicated by barriers such as lack of broadband Internet access. To learn more about telehealth use in rural communities, check out RHIhub’s Telehealth Use in Rural Healthcare topic guide. rural healthcare medical solutions