Rural hospitals and clinics are shutting down at an alarming rate—more than 100 since 2013—due to financial strain and workforce shortages, leaving many communities without critical healthcare services. Meanwhile, two-thirds of all federally designated Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) are in rural regions, meaning millions live in areas with too few providers to meet local needs.

As access to care declines, community-based organizations, community hubs, and community health workers (CHWs) are stepping in to provide vital support around health and social challenges. While there has been significant investment in training community health workers, an empowered workforce must also be equipped with the right tools to do their jobs effectively. Investments in technology can also help community-based providers partner with other organizations across the healthcare ecosystem, such as health plans, health systems, and public health agencies.

Key Challenges in Rural Healthcare

Rural communities have long faced barriers to care, and these challenges are only getting worse:

1. Limited healthcare facilities and providers: Nearly 20% of Americans live in rural areas, yet only about 9% of physicians practice there. This shortage forces many patients to travel long distances for basic medical services.
2. Higher rates of chronic disease: Rural residents experience disproportionately high rates of heart disease, diabetes, and respiratory illnesses. Many of these conditions are manageable with regular care, but access is limited.
3. Limited internet access and difficulty accessing healthcare technology: Telehealth and digital tools can bridge gaps in care, but they depend on reliable internet access and user-friendly platforms, which aren’t always available in rural areas.

When rural hospitals close, patients are forced to travel an additional 20 to 40 miles for inpatient or specialty care, leading to delays in treatment and worsening health outcomes. Without targeted interventions, these disparities will continue to grow.

The Critical Role of Community Health Workers

With a growing shortage of healthcare providers, the Bureau of Health Workforce Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) reports that rural areas face significant gaps in care. As a result, CHWs are essential in connecting rural residents to healthcare services. They don’t replace doctors or nurses, but help bridge gaps by:

1. Helping individuals navigate the healthcare system and locate available providers.
2. Providing basic health education, screenings, and chronic disease management support.
3. Coordinating telehealth visits in areas where in-person care is limited.
4. Connecting patients with transportation, food assistance, and housing services that impact overall health.

Despite their impact, CHWs often lack the tools to manage their work efficiently. Many still rely on paper records, spreadsheets, or fragmented databases, making it difficult to track client needs. In addition, many CHWs are often unpaid or rely on short-term grants, making service delivery inconsistent. Expanding Medicaid reimbursement programs for CHW services can help provide sustainable funding, ensuring CHWs have access to the technology and support needed to maximize their impact. Without the right infrastructure, CHWs could be limited in how many people they can support and how they can collaborate with other healthcare partners

Technology Can Strengthen CHW Efforts

Most case management platforms are designed for clinical or licensed providers, which doesn’t align with the workflows of community-based providers, including CHWs. In addition, combining multiple tools to meet the needs of CHWs can be clunky and cost-inefficient. Empowered with the right technology can help community-based providers:

1. Coordinate care more effectively across healthcare and social service networks.
2. Track social needs and referrals in a single, centralized system.
3. Access up-to-date, localized resource directories tailored to the communities they serve.
4. Reduce administrative burdens so they can focus on people, not paperwork.

For example, telehealth has helped expand access to care in some rural areas, but limited broadband access and overly complex platforms remain barriers. CHW-focused technology needs to function in low-bandwidth settings, support offline data entry, and be intuitive to use.

How Pear Suite Empowers CHWs in Rural Communities

Pear Suite’s platform is designed specifically for CHWs and community-based organizations in rural areas, helping them work more efficiently by providing:

1. Localized resource directories to quickly connect patients to available place-based services, ensuring CHWs can navigate provider shortages where essential services may be scarce or spread across large regions, and coordinate services faster and more efficiently.
2. Real-time collaboration tools for seamless coordination with healthcare teams and other community providers, bridging geographic gaps in care by enabling communication across distant locations. Many rural patients live far from healthcare facilities, making real-time updates critical for ensuring seamless coordination, reducing delays, and improving health outcomes.
3. Mobile data tracking and analytics to measure impact and improve program efficiency in rural areas, ensuring CHWs can track health trends, identify service gaps, and demonstrate the effectiveness of interventions. With more than 5,100 designated rural health professional shortage areas, these tools provide CHWs with the ability to document community needs, enhance service delivery, and advocate for better resources.
4. Cloud-based tools for low-bandwidth scenarios to ensure documentation is safe and accessible, a crucial feature in rural areas where 22% of residents lack access to reliable broadband that allows CHWs to update records even in low-internet or offline environments.
5. Omni-channel communication options to enable multiple options to engage with members—phone calls, text messages, emails, and video calls. With many rural households relying on landlines or experiencing connectivity challenges, providing multiple communication channels ensures CHWs can stay connected with the individuals they support.
6. Hub functionality to collaborate across multiple organizations with shared administrative and fiscal management, allowing rural healthcare providers, community-based organizations, and health plans to coordinate services more effectively in fragmented rural health systems where patients receive care from a mix of small clinics, nonprofits, and other healthcare providers.

Pear Suite strengthens rural healthcare by giving CHWs the tools they need to bridge care gaps and support their communities more effectively.

Discover how Pear Suite can help your organization support rural communities and improve health outcomes where they are needed most.

Book a demo to see the platform in action.