Eagle Telemedicine introduced the Eagle Rural Care Alliance, aimed at enhancing access to telemedicine specialty services. This initiative facilitates collaborations among rural facilities to optimize cost-effectiveness and ensure access to vital specialties for their communities. By consolidating the needs of multiple hospitals, the program offers economically feasible access to telemedicine specialists in manageable increments. Consequently, rural and community hospitals can provide specialty clinics to local patients who might otherwise forego treatment or face extensive travel for specialized care.
“At Eagle, our mission has always been to serve the underserved and improve patient outcomes by enhancing access to care,” said Jason Povio, CEO, Eagle Telemedicine. “The past challenge has been that smaller rural hospitals might not have the patient volume to reserve certain physician specialties. Our new Eagle Rural Care Alliance is solving this problem by bundling hospitals with similar needs together to cost-effectively meet the minimum volume requirements to reserve telemedicine specialists. As a result, even hospitals with extremely low patient volumes can affordably offer the specialty clinics their communities need.”
According to STAT, more than 15% of Americans, or approximately 46 million people, live in rural areas, but only 10% of the nation’s doctors practice in these communities. Most of these physicians are primary care and family physicians, not the physician specialists needed to treat and deliver therapies and management for more critical illnesses and diseases. This presents a healthcare divide that leaves rural communities without the access required to improve their health outcomes.
“Telemedicine is revolutionizing rural healthcare by breaking down geographical barriers and ensuring that specialized medical expertise reaches every corner of our communities,” said Alan Morgan, CEO, National Rural Health Association (NRHA). “This initiative marks a crucial step in bridging the healthcare divide in rural areas, empowering patients with access to quality care, regardless of their location.”
The Eagle Rural Care Alliance is offered to hospitals of every size and location across 17 physician specialties. From Tele-Cardiology and Tele-Neurology to Tele-Oncology, Tele-Infectious Disease, Tele-Nephrology and more than 12 additional specialties, physician specialists can be made available in fit-for-purpose designed blocks per month. This makes specialty clinics affordable and available to any rural hospital or healthcare facility and increases overall access to care for patients in the communities these hospitals serve.
“The concept seems so simple and is based on the premise that together we can do more,” added Povio. “We are excited for the future of rural healthcare and the role we have to play in driving care forward.”
“Rural residents often face difficulties when it comes to accessing healthcare services, particularly specialized care. Significant obstacles such as long distances, high costs, and missed work hinder their access to healthcare services. Failure to access these services can result in unmet healthcare needs, contributing to health disparities,” said Amie Powell, Chief Operations Officer and Clinic Administrator, Goodland Regional Medical Center and Rawlins County Health Center. “By collaborating with Eagle Telemedicine and other rural hospitals in our network, our rural patients can now receive specialist care at our local healthcare facility, and local healthcare providers can access subspecialists’ expertise. This significantly reduces the need for extensive travel for care, making healthcare services more accessible to rural populations.”
The Eagle Rural Care Alliance is available now to any hospitals needing increased access to board certified specialty physicians to serve patients in their community. Learn more about the growing suite of Eagle Programs and Specialty Services here. Register here to see how your facility may qualify for the Eagle Rural Care Alliance program across any of Eagle’s 17 specialties.
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