Advancing Health Care for Rural Areas through Technology

March 20, 2025

The state House Republican Policy Committee hosted a hearing this week focused on ways to alleviate barriers to quality health care for rural residents through the use of technology. The hearing featured insights from the health care community, rural Pennsylvania advocates, and research and development companies.

The hearing included testimony from Guthrie Clinic and Penn Highlands Healthcare about the ways they are advancing care through technology.

Here are some key takeaways:

Remote health care makes an impact:  Guthrie’s Pulse Center leverages support from highly trained remote health care professionals, allowing care teams at the bedside to focus more on patients and less on administrative tasks, such as documenting patient histories and managing medications. Through this model, Guthrie found each nurse is now spending about 20 minutes less per shift in patient charts, resulting in less time in front of the computer and more time in front of the patient.

Embracing technology:  “At Guthrie, we will continue to support programs, proposals, and policies that foster innovation and the integration of technology to enable high-quality patient care and improve outcomes,” said Edmund Sabanegh, MD, MBA, Guthrie president and CEO. “Failure to prioritize these efforts will result in stagnation and widening disparities. To continue meeting the evolving needs of patients, we must invest in digital health solutions, support research and development, and promote partnerships that advance care coordination, efficiency, and outcomes.”

Using AI as diagnostic tool:  Caregivers at Penn Highlands use technology to provide enhanced diagnostic precision and accuracy. AI-powered diagnostic tools use algorithms to analyze medical images and patient data to help identify potential issues, which leads to faster and more accurate diagnosis. AI can also be leveraged to offload tasks and reduce workload on physicians and other health care workers.

Workforce supports:  “As rural health care providers acutely feel the challenges of maintaining a workforce to meet the needs of the communities they serve, these AI tools can supplement and alleviate some of the burdensome parts of the workload, enabling providers and caregivers to focus on hands-on, direct patient care,” said Trina Abla, DO, MBA, system chief medical officer, Penn Highlands.

Technology to streamline communications: Penn Highlands has also partnered with school districts in northwestern Pennsylvania to provide telehealth services in schools.

Information about the hearing is available online.