As healthcare delivery continues to extend beyond the traditional hospital or clinic, patients nationwide are benefiting from greater convenience and access to care. But for rural communities, the impact of virtual care is even more profound, pointed out Dave Newman, chief medical officer of virtual care at Sanford Health, during a recent interview.
In rural America, vast geographic expanses often separate patients from healthcare facilities, which means health systems serving primarily rural populations must make virtual care a strategic priority, Newman argued. Virtual care isn’t just a “nice-to-have” for rural hospitals — it’s necessary to ensure patients are getting the care they need, he said.
“We decided several years ago that in order to provide the highest quality care to our rural population, we had to think differently. It was really innovation out of necessity,” Newman remarked.
South Dakota-based Sanford — which operates 56 hospitals and more than 270 clinics across several states — was able to quickly scale its virtual care initiative due in large part to a “generous gift” from its benefactor, South Dakota businessman Denny Sanford, Newman noted.
The health system has deployed virtual care in 78 different specialties, he said.
He highlighted that scaling virtual care has helped Sanford in its efforts to tackle the mental health crisis in rural America. Patient feedback alerted Sanford to the fact that many rural residents were struggling to access mental health services — patients found it too difficult to find a provider that accepted their insurance, and many were on waitlists that never seemed to get shorter, Newman explained.
“People with mental health needs are often already struggling with day-to-day routines, and the logistics of getting an appointment were too hard. So we started direct-to-consumer behavioral health appointments, where it’s just like going online to order something from your favorite marketplace or getting a reservation at a restaurant. Within a couple clicks, you can be seen by a mental health care provider,” he stated.
Mental health-related hospital admissions have been on the rise over the past decade — and Sanford learned that some of its smaller critical access hospitals aren’t always prepared to handle this surge, Newman added.
To address this, Sanford rolled virtual behavioral health consults in its hospitals. This way, a behavioral health specialist from a larger flagship hospital can easily meet with a patient staying at a smaller community hospital, Newman explained.
This way, the specialist can quickly make adjustments in the patient’s care plan, such as changing their medication, and they can provide guidance on whether a transfer to a bigger facility is necessary.
“Our flagship hospitals always have bed shortages, so it opens up beds for somebody that needs in-person care. It also keeps patients closer to home so they are by their loved ones. They’re able to go let their dog out. They’re able to do these things because they don’t have to disrupt their daily routines to go to a bigger hospital,” Newman declared.
Virtual care has played a huge part in helping Sanford ensure that patients who live near smaller hospitals still have access to a high level of expertise, he said.
Small critical access hospitals often lack specialists like pediatric rheumatologists or neonatologists, Newman pointed out. By giving providers ways to deliver care virtually, patients in rural areas can still have access to and be treated by these kinds of specialists.
“We also have a tele-ICU program where our critical care doctor can remote into our smaller hospital and see the patient there. They have established that relationship, so if the patient needs to be transferred to a flagship hospital, they already have that relationship with the patient and with the patient’s family. The patient knows that they’re going to be taken care of by the same person. That helps increase trust in digital health — it’s not just some person across the country that’s taking care of them, it’s somebody in their footprint,” Newman stated.
Sanford, like other health systems with large rural footprints, is integrating virtual care into everything from behavioral health to critical care. These efforts prove that virtual care isn’t just about convenience — it’s eliminating geography as a barrier to expert, timely care.
Photo: marekuliasz, Getty Images
