When it comes to providing emergency care, rural hospitals largely have the deck stacked against them.

Their patients are generally sicker. Health risk factors such as diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure occur more often in rural patients compared to their urban counterparts. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that heart disease rates are 40% higher in rural areas.

They often have less opportunity for reimbursement. Rural patients are more likely to use government assistance programs to pay for their healthcare.  One in three rural adults are enrolled in Medicare, one in six are enrolled in state Medicaid programs, and one in ten are covered by Marketplace coverage. (And those are the lucky ones—in non-Medicaid expansion states, 32% of adults have no form of insurance at all.)  Between uninsured patients and continued  cuts to Medicare reimbursement, rural hospitals are struggling to earn enough to keep their doors open.

Staffing shortages usually hit them harder. Approximately 20% of U.S. residents live in rural areas but less than 10% of physicians practice in these settings. Small, rural hospitals simply don’t have the funds to compete against the salaries offered by large health systems. Rural providers are often people who grew up or attended school within the rural community itself. But the number of medical school entrants from rural areas declined by 28% from 2002 to 2017, which suggests that rural provider shortages could get worse in the future.

Sadly, with these factors in mind, it’s not surprising that there have been 148 rural hospital closures and conversions since 2010. But with nearly 66 million people living in rural areas and rural EDs accounting for nearly 17% of all ED visits in the US, it’s also completely unsustainable. So, what can these organizations do to help turn the tide?

There have been 148 rural hospital closures and conversions since 2010.

Quite frankly: they can’t do it alone. Rural hospitals need partners that understand their unique challenges and actively work toward cost-efficient solutions that enable their staff to perform as efficiently as possible. They need solutions that enable better charge capture, more streamlined patient flow, better care coordination—and so much more. They need comprehensive revenue cycle solutions that cover the cycle from scheduling to zero balance and automate the tedious, repetitive tasks that slow down their staff.

I’m proud to say that Altera Digital Health is one such partner. You may have heard our recent announcement of Paragon® Denali, an electronic health record (EHR) natively built in the cloud, specifically designed for rural, critical access and community hospitals. Paragon Denali will act as a single platform to manage clinical and financial data without further straining staff, resources and budgets. Built on Microsoft Azure, Paragon Denali will also bring cloud-capable features and containerized services to smaller healthcare organizations, enabling faster, more informed care decisions and greater financial and operational efficiencies.

By choosing partners that help them optimize the resources already available, rural hospitals will be better poised for success and independence moving forward. This is just scratching the surface of what rural and community hospitals can achieve with Altera. I’m extremely excited about Paragon Denali and the impact it’s going to have on organizations and patient care. To learn more about what Paragon Denali can do for your organization, go here.

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