Rural Americans face significant healthcare challenges, including distance from providers, lack of access to specialists and epidemiological data indicating higher rates of various diseases in rural than urban areas. By way of example, while 13.8% of the U.S. population lives in rural areas, two-thirds of healthcare provider shortage areas are in rural regions. And, according to the U.S Centers for Disease Control, rural residents are typically older, less likely to be insured and face higher mortality risks from conditions that include heart disease, cancer and stroke.
Economic barriers, as well, can frustrate access to care: The average poverty rate in rural areas is 14.1%, as compared to 11% in metro areas, and can discourage insurance purchases and physician visits. Lack of public transportation and childcare solutions can create additional barriers to care.
But telehealth offers a transformative solution for rural spaces. And locally operated rural ISPs can become healthcare heroes. Robust, reliable, low-latency connections are critical to improving healthcare for rural spaces, which themselves are home to one-quarter of the nation’s 18 million U.S. service veterans.
New telehealth platforms transcend synchronous video and include exciting and promising extended reality (XR) applications that leverage virtual reality (VR) and alternative reality (AR) to deliver critical physical, occupational and mental health therapeutic interventions. These modalities can also support physician training and continuing education. AI-driven healthcare will enable personalized care management and support rapid diagnoses and treatment plans. Veterans’ healthcare already offers important examples of these benefits: VR treatments show significant reductions in PTSD, anxiety and depression. As of August 2023, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs expanded its immersive XR technology from 10 to over 2,000 locations, underscoring the critical role of reliable broadband.
Rural broadband providers play an integral role in enabling these care options, supporting innovative medical technologies that lead to more efficient healthcare delivery and improved patient outcomes. The future of rural healthcare depends on robust, reliable broadband. Infrastructure investments today will help transform what once seemed like science fiction into accessible, personalized healthcare realities. Rural broadband and telehealth are ready to deliver unprecedented improvements in healthcare access and patient success.
Additional resources: Get Started on Telehealth Today and learn more about how broadband delivers telehealth in rural communities.
Coming soon: A new Smart Rural Community paper on extended reality healthcare and its applications for rural spaces.