About the Hospital
Tucked into the northwest corner of Kansas in Sherman County, Goodland Regional Medical Center serves a largely rural population across several counties as well as eastern Colorado. A designated Critical Access hospital, Goodland also provides family medicine services through its Rural Health Clinic to a large population of Medicare, commercially insured, and Medicaid patients.
The Challenge
Goodland faced several challenges in expanding specialty care. Lower availability of specialty physicians in rural areas continues to be a factor across the health care sector. In rural communities like northwest Kansas, patients are dispersed over a number of communities so finding convenient locations is a hurdle. Budgetary concerns are also a common challenge.
The Solution
The Eagle Rural Care Alliance brings together rural and community hospitals to bundle telemedicine services, thereby achieving economies of scale and enabling the hospitals to provide access to critically important specialty care. “By collaborating with Eagle Telemedicine and the 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,” said Amie Powell, Chief Operations Officer at Goodland Regional Medical Center. “It significantly reduces the need for extensive travel for care, making healthcare services more accessible to rural populations.”
Benefits & Outcomes
- Improved Patient Access
- Economically Sustainable Care
- Collaboration with Rural Care Alliance
