Virtual Care: A Lifeline for Rural America

In a world of constant connectivity, technology is playing a crucial role in providing access to care for America's rural communities. Virtual care bridges the gap between patients and health care providers, ensuring timely and efficient care, regardless of geographical or societal barriers.

Sanford Health has been an early adopter of telehealth, recognizing the potential to revolutionize health care delivery, especially in rural areas. Over the last decade, Sanford has provided more than 900,000 virtual appointments, amounting to over 45 million miles saved by patients who then didn't need to travel long distances on country roads or through dangerous winter weather to access high-quality care.

Dave Newman, MD, chief medical officer of virtual care at Sanford Health, recently sat down with The Washington Post Columnist Dr. Leana Wen M.D. M.Sc. as part of HLTH Inc. 's "The Beat: Executive Speaker Series," to discuss why and how virtual care is ensuring patients in rural areas get the care they need, no matter where they live.

How does virtual care work at Sanford Health?

Two-thirds of Sanford Health's patients live in rural areas across America's heartland. "We like to say it's been innovation on necessity," Dr. Newman said. "We needed to find a better way for high-value, high-quality care."

In late 2024, Sanford Health opened the Virtual Care Center, a flagship command center that focuses on three pillars – education, innovation and clinical care – with one goal: supporting virtual health care in rural communities.

Dr. Newman shared how virtual care options are designed to be flexible and patient centered, accounting for different lifestyles throughout Sanford Health's rural footprint.

"We leave it up to the patients. We give them a menu of what they want to do," Dr. Newman told Dr. Wen.

For those comfortable with technology, in-home virtual visits are available for 77 specialties. For others, satellite clinics offer virtual consultations with subspecialists. Audio-only visits are also an option.

"I have a patient who is a farmer in Dickinson, North Dakota, that just has a rotary phone," Dr. Newman explained. "I can see him virtually through audio-only visits, which has been a huge satisfier for him during harvest when he only has ten minutes to touch base with a provider."

Bedside Manner vs. Webside Manner

Training clinicians in virtual care is essential to addressing workforce shortages, especially in rural areas. At Sanford Health, the focus is on developing a "webside manner" to ensure that virtual interactions are as effective and compassionate as in-person visits.

"Right now, when I'm seeing a patient virtually, I need to know webside manner," said Dr. Newman. "I was never taught how to provide a cancer diagnosis through a computer screen. I was never taught how to relate to a patient through a computer screen."

To bridge this gap, Sanford Health has developed its own curriculum for new clinicians and those seeking additional training. This curriculum equips health care providers with the skills needed to deliver high-quality care through virtual platforms, ensuring that patients receive the same level of empathy and attention as they would in a traditional clinic setting.

The difference between bedside manner and webside manner is significant. Dr. Newman shared an experience with Dr. Wen about a patient who had mental health struggles and was difficult to connect with during face-to-face visits. It wasn't until he saw the patient in their home environment, during a virtual visit, that he noticed a concert poster of a band they both liked. "I commented on this, and I could just see the stress drain out of their face," he said. This small connection eased the patient's anxiety and opened up a more effective line of communication.

Listen to Dr. Newman's full conversation with Dr. Wen here:

Education, Innovation and Care Delivery

"The Virtual Care Center is more than just a state-of-the-art building," said Dr. Newman. "It is a symbol of our commitment to reimagining care delivery."

The Education Institute inside the Virtual Care Center is a learning environment for caregivers to expand their knowledge in providing care virtually and developing new skills to ensure the highest quality care and patient experience. The Education Institute includes simulated spaces where medical students, residents, clinicians and nurses can use augmented reality and virtual reality tools to train for the next generation of care delivery.

The Virtual Care Center's Innovation Center is the first accelerator space in the nation that specifically focuses on AI tools and emerging technologies designed to advance rural care delivery. In this space, technology partners collaborate with providers to co-develop new software, hardware and care delivery models in a virtual care environment. It also includes a patient and family experience room allowing patients to test new digital health tools and provide feedback.

In Clinical Service Delivery, both patients and caregivers realize the flexibility and convenience of on-demand care, dramatically enhancing and expanding our virtual options and transforming access to specialty care and specialists. This space is also home to My Sanford Nurse, a direct-to-consumer acute care and virtual nursing.

A look into the future of virtual care

During a recent national digital health conversation at ViVE , Dr. Newman discussed how technology is poised to transform health care delivery.

Dr. Newman predicts that 2025 will be the year we transition from hype to help – "In 2025, it's going to bring health care into people's living rooms."

"It needs to be the health care driving the technology instead of the technology driving the health care," Dr. Newman said. "At the end of every single decision we make, there's a patient there. And that's what we need to focus on."