Rural hospitals face huge challenges: An increasing number of uninsured older or sicker patients, problems recruiting physicians and specialty care, and aging facilities.
News that Augusta University has launched a Rural Hospital Task Force made national news headlines over the weekend. Appointed by President Brooks Keel, the task force began meeting in February to study the issue of how to stabilize and strengthen rural health care services.
“Part of the solution is using telemedicine to connect rural patients to experts in urban centers to deliver specialty care without forcing patients to travel long distances,” according to a Associated Press report that ran in the Washington Times, Miami Herald, Kansas City Star and The Charlotte Observer, among dozens of other news outlets.
The Washington Times: More telemedicine, network care to help rural care
The Augusta Chronicle: Augusta University report says greater use of telemedicine and networks of care could be the key to helping struggling rural hospitals
Jan. 1, 2017