The report, “Rural and Critical Access Healthcare IT Solutions,” surveyed 972 rural healthcare executives, IT professionals, clinicians and administrators on technology trends, vendor performance and interoperability challenges. The findings highlight persistent gaps in digital transformation efforts, particularly in areas such as interoperability, telehealth and artificial intelligence.
Six key findings from the report:
- Interoperability roadblocks: Sixty-seven percent of rural healthcare providers face interoperability challenges due to outdated legacy systems and lack of integration support.
- Health information exchange participation: Among critical access hospitals, only 42% are connected to a regional or national health information exchange, compared to 71% of federally qualified health centers, which benefit from government incentives.
- Telehealth adoption: While 58% of independent rural physician practices use telehealth solutions, 34% cite broadband limitations as a major barrier to full adoption.
- Remote patient monitoring growth: Seventy-six percent of home health and hospice providers have implemented remote patient monitoring tools for chronic disease management and post-acute care.
- EHR system upgrades: Only 29% of rural health clinics and independent physician practices plan to upgrade their EHR systems in 2025, compared to 54% of larger rural community hospitals that have better access to grants and funding programs.
- Artificial intelligence adoption: AI remains largely untapped in rural healthcare, with just 8% of critical access hospitals and rural community hospitals implementing AI-driven analytics for predictive healthcare.
