5 steps to make rural healthcare more patient focused

The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic brought renewed attention to the ways healthcare is delivered — and how those processes might be improved to help patients.

While rural healthcare transformation is a complex topic, not all solutions are out of reach. In fact, some can be implemented rather easily, often at little cost, particularly if providers start from the perspective of adopting a patient-first lens. Addressing rural health disparities and improving access to healthcare in rural areas have become crucial priorities in the evolving landscape of healthcare system demands.

Here are the key steps you can take to implement a patient-centered approach and help improve rural medical services:

What is patient-centered healthcare?

Patient-centered healthcare is care that approaches patients as people, not numbers or case files. It’s precise, tailored medical service delivered to patients when and where they need it.

Many individual providers and both large and small healthcare systems have been working diligently to make patient-centered care initiatives the new standard of care. But there’s still more work to be done to address rural healthcare challenges and improve access to health services.

While there’s no single, fail-safe approach, individual physicians and rural healthcare organizations alike can work to make care more accessible and less intimidating and difficult to access for patients through a few simple strategies:

1. Prioritize patient communication

It’s hard to build rapport with patients if your back is turned to type notes in an electronic health record (EHR) while they’re sharing their symptoms. Everyone understands that primary care providers are crunched for time and that records must be updated. But, if possible, healthcare systems should allow front-line providers to be shadowed by a notetaker so care specialists can focus their energies on truly listening — face to face — when their patients share what’s brought them in for care. In this way, providers can build real rapport with their patients, a process that’s been shown to improve health outcomes and increase the likelihood that patients will follow through on recommended care.

2. Increase healthcare access in rural communities

COVID-19 uncovered troubling healthcare disparities, particularly in regard to accessibility. The rural and urban healthcare disparities are evident as citizens living in rural areas and less affluent urban districts have access to fewer healthcare providers — especially when it comes to specialists — per capita than more affluent suburban residents. Systems can tackle these disparities and other barriers to healthcare in rural areas through innovative care delivery models such as:

1. Telehealth services, including online appointments, which are crucial for telemedicine in rural areas.
2. Mobile clinic vans, which can travel into underserved areas.
3. Pop-up clinics, positioned to target specific demographics — including those without health insurance coverage — who may not otherwise have access to care.
4. Partnerships with area nonprofit organizations, libraries and community centers to offer free heart health checkups, vaccinations and more.
5. Remote monitoring and digital care delivery options, which allow patients to receive care from the comfort of their own homes.
6. Sliding-scale fee systems, which can encourage underinsured patients to seek healthcare services.

3. Ease paths to scheduling and specialty services

Rural health providers can go a long way toward patient-friendly care delivery by simply allowing for easy, patient-driven online scheduling — saving patients the need to navigate long phone waits to speak with a scheduling coordinator. Relatedly, when systems consider clustering services under one roof — from general practitioners to specialist providers, X-ray services, labs and more — navigating multiple facets of care becomes much less intimidating and less time-consuming for patients. This approach can significantly improve access to healthcare in rural areas.

4. Invest in patient education

Many healthcare systems now have detailed EHR platforms and other patient-facing healthcare portals, many of which make it easy to connect with physicians, view lab or test results and see notes about past care procedures. But too often, patients fail to fully use these platforms’ capabilities because they either don’t know about them or they are not sure how to navigate them. Systems should invest in robust communication strategies, from posters in exam rooms to email campaigns featuring step-by-step usage tutorials, to help patients better use digital care platforms already within reach. This investment in health literacy can greatly benefit healthcare in rural America.

5. Prioritize disease prevention and health literacy

Healthcare can often focus on a reactive rather than a proactive approach. Instead, healthcare systems should allow providers the time to speak with their patients about healthy lifestyle choices and disease prevention strategies. Similarly, insurance providers can go further in offering patient incentives — think points toward free movie tickets or exercise gear — when they stop smoking, take steps to exercise and target a diet rich in fruits and vegetables instead of fatty or sugary foods. By taking such a dual approach, we can help positively refocus care on prevention. In the process, we can shift the pendulum and begin addressing common health issues, such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes, before they happen.

As digital transformation — including new possibilities for telecare and remote digital monitoring and increased use of AI — continues to reshape the U.S. healthcare system, the defining goal of healthcare will continue to be the same. This is an industry that is, and always will be, about helping patients live their best lives.

By centering the patient experience in all decision-making, rural healthcare providers and healthcare systems can help ensure their focus remains on that all-important goal, even as the way care is provided shifts to meet patients’ evolving needs and addresses rural healthcare service gaps.

How Wipfli can help

Healthcare delivery is evolving. So are patient expectations.

Rural healthcare organizations across the country are adopting digital solutions that push patient care forward and increase financial viability — and the only way for your organization to keep up is to embrace new technology.

Wipfli’s healthcare practice is ready to help make the digital future work for you. Learn more about our rural health provider solutions.