Small towns, big impact: The power of clinical communication in rural healthcare

• Rural healthcare organizations are deeply impacted by unique challenges in delivering care to their most vulnerable communities.  
• Care teams are often operating with fewer clinicians than what is needed, while navigating network failures and other effects when serving remote areas.    
• Clinical communication technology offers practical solutions to streamline information and improve collaboration for better patient experiences.

Whether in major cities or small towns, hospitals and health systems across the country face operational hurdles that hinder care team coordination and impact patient care. That being said, healthcare in rural areas faces distinct challenges that set it apart from other communities.  

Technology can’t solve these problems alone, but with strategic initiatives, rural healthcare organizations can make meaningful changes to improve experiences for their employees and patients alike. Here are a few ways that can help solve communication barriers that disrupt access to healthcare in rural areas. 

1. Workforce shortages 

Staffing shortages are common in the healthcare industry, leading to widespread clinician burnout. In our 2025 State of Healthcare Communication Report, we found that 82% of respondents described themselves as experiencing a great deal, considerable, or moderate “work-related stress and/or lost satisfaction/sense of efficacy.”  

Rural healthcare systems face more significant hiring challenges than urban and suburban hospitals due to limited local talent pools, lower salary competitiveness, and fewer professional development opportunities. A 2023 research review from the Journal of General Internal Medicine notes that 20% of the population lives in rural America, but only 10% of physicians practice in the same areas.   

Effective communication solutions can help improve rural access to healthcare by saving clinicians valuable time and allowing them to focus on their patients. More specifically, secure messaging facilitates instantaneous communication for care teams to coordinate treatment plans. On-call scheduling provides further support by ensuring the right provider is contacted promptly, minimizing interruptions when sharing important information.  

2. Geographic isolation 

Challenging terrain—such as mountains, forests, and deserts—often spreads infrastructure over large distances. This geographic dispersion frequently makes it difficult for patients to access healthcare in rural areas and for clinicians to offer their services.   

A 2020 study published in Health & Place notes that, for example, less than half of women in rural regions live within a 30-minute drive of the nearest hospital with obstetric services, and over 10% live more than 100 miles away.  

From clinicians’ perspectives, the physical distance from other hospitals and health systems can impact their care team communication, coordination, and access to critical information.  

A robust clinical communication and collaboration (CC&C) platform enables dynamic communication within and outside these rural healthcare institutions, preventing information delays caused by fragmented systems.  

Clinicians can then have faster consultations with specialists who may live hundreds of miles away, while allowing for quicker referrals and patient transfers to suburban or urban health systems.  

3. Network issues 

Cellular outages and internet downtime are common challenges that affect rural access to healthcare, especially in regions prone to hurricanes, tornadoes, and other recurring natural disasters.  

Recent research has explored this subject. A 2023 research study surveyed 154 hospitals and emergency departments in New England, revealing that while 86% of rural hospitals had reliable connectivity, only 58% could maintain cellular service during internet disruptions, compared to 95% and 84% in urban hospitals.  

When every second counts, like in the case of sepsis, the inability to communicate can mean the difference between life and death for patients. Paging devices are a tried-and-true solution that keeps care teams connected by operating on a separate network from cellular and internet, maintaining a 99.27% reliability.   

As clinical communication tools continue to evolve, they hold immense potential to transform care delivery for rural healthcare facilities. Embracing this technology shift isn’t just a convenience; it’s a necessity for ensuring exceptional patient experiences in all communities, no matter how remote.