ViVE 2025: Ensuring Access to Care as Tech Expectations Grow

LEARN MORE: See how community health centers are using data to drive change.

Community health centers often serve patient populations that have varying language needs and levels of insurance access and may experience food or housing insecurities. 

Addressing social determinants of health, for instance, requires a better understanding of these communities. For example, survey questions should be developed to actually improve patient care instead of simply existing for the sake of data collection. 

Brian Haile, president and CEO at Nashville-based Neighborhood Health, explained how the organization approached asking questions about food insecurity with actionable offers: Does a patient want to go home with a box of food? Does he or she need help applying for food stamps? 

“What we really do is focus on what we can achieve and help patients with,” Haile said. 

Artificial intelligence was a popular topic during the conference, and the discussion continued at this session. Community health centers are eyeing promising capabilities, including AI features that could help free up administrative time for providers. Multilanguage features would also be welcomed. 

Even if providers aren’t using AI solutions currently, many patients already are, Haile noted. 

From left: Jason Patnosh, Associate Vice President for Partnership and Resource Development at the National Association of Community Health Centers, moderates a panel discussion with Johanna Liu, President and CEO at San Francisco Community Clinic Consortium; Jaffer Traish, COO at findhelp; and Neighborhood Health President and CEO Brian Haile on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, during the ViVE conference in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo courtesy of ViVE) 

He shared an anecdote about a patient using a translation app: “There’s already AI in use, it just may not be in use by us. It’s being used by our patients. So, how are our patients using this, and how do we build on that? Because if they trust it already, then it’s just adding something in.” 

Ultimately, solutions to improve care access must involve provider organizations from a “grassroots-level” perspective, Liu said. Community health centers and similar providers know how to “do more with less,” but they shouldn’t have to keep doing that. 

EXPLORE MORE: How can rural healthcare systems strengthen their resilience?

In a separate session, Minnesota-based Winona Health President and CEO Rachelle Schultz echoed a similar sentiment for rural healthcare, noting that solutions to address care access in rural communities should come from those communities. 

“We are people first. We are high-touch first. I think we have to be careful that we’re not interrupting what are really valued relationships that people have with their doctors, nurses, therapists and so forth, and making it too techy, because at the heart of it, it is the connection of people. We can swing too far if we’re not paying attention,” Schultz said. 

That shouldn’t intimidate organizations that are trying to innovate, Schultz said. 

“Get started,” she said. “Do something. The status quo isn’t working.”

Realistic Expectations About New Technologies 

Winona Health, which is headquartered in southeastern Minnesota on the Mississippi River and borders Wisconsin, has served its community for more than 130 years and was an early adopter of electronic health record systems. 

In recent years, reduced capacity at referral facilities has led to fewer available beds, while workforce needs have grown, especially in the pharmacy space. Schultz said that adding automated solutions to support pharmacy techs has helped amid ongoing constraints. 

However, there have also been changes such as cuts on clinical rotations that mean incoming staff members may not be totally prepared for their new roles — and may not have even worked with patients before. 

Because of that, Winona Health offers a simulation lab that allows future and incoming clinicians to reinforce their education and training. 

MORE FROM VIVE: Ambient intelligence is poised to transform healthcare.

Workforce concerns remain top of mind at rural organizations, and not just in the clinical space. Ryan Thousand, interim CIO at Montana-based Dahl Memorial Healthcare Association, recalled the early days of his role. 

“When I came to the organization, we didn’t even have a ticketing system,” he said. “My IT team could fit into the trunk of a Prius. Later on, it got smaller, and it continues to do that.” 

For Thousand, focusing on the organization’s current technology stack and optimizing it has been his main focus, instead of adding on new solutions: “Rightsize your approach. Take a small step back, look at what’s going on around you, and understand that you might not be able to go out and tackle the world, but you can tackle little things at a time.” 

Growing industry partnerships between vendors and provider organizations have been promising, Schultz said, such as the launch of Microsoft’s Rural Health AI Innovation Lab. 

DISCOVER: Four ways technology solutions mitigate staff shortages in rural healthcare.

“I think the AI piece of it is going to be a big game changer for us, but it’s not going to be overnight,” she said. “It’s going to be fixing these processes and having platforms that will actually support it over time.” 

In order for AI solutions to gain ground in rural healthcare, governance is key. 

“Governance is an incredibly important step,” said Scott McEachern, CIO at Oregon-based Southern Coos Hospital and Health Center. “Healthcare has come to the point where we need to have that governance broadly, but also at the local level, having policies instituted around AI.” 

Even as new technologies get implemented, McEachern added, fostering trust remains imperative. “In order for us to accept and understand technology, we have to have those solid relationships, up and down, internally, but then also outside with our local community —partners, businesses, state representatives and also the other healthcare facilities,” he said.

From left: Margaret Malone, Principal at Flare Capital Partners, moderates a panel discussion with Dave Newman, Chief Medical Officer of Virtual Care at Sanford Health; Nolan Chang, Executive Vice President of Strategy, Corporate Development and Finance at The Permanente Federation; and Beaufort-Jasper-Hampton Comprehensive Health Services Inc. CEO Faith Polkey, on Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, during the ViVE conference in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo courtesy of ViVE) 

Maturing Telehealth for Rural Health Systems 

While rural healthcare organizations evaluate AI solutions, telehealth has found its footing, even with challenges around connectivity, and it’s proving to be a career extender and talent attractor for providers. 

Dave Newman, chief medical officer of virtual care at South Dakota-based Sanford Health, shared one illuminating experience: A snowstorm in Fargo, N.D., pushed a neurosurgeon to switch his in-person visits to a virtual consult, saving patients from rescheduling and allowing the specialist to keep appointments. 

Rural communities are underserved in subspecialty care, and with a wave of physicians, including specialties, likely to retire soon, telehealth offers a way for them to continue their practice at their convenience. 

GET THE DETAILS: Three ways independent hospitals can achieve cost containment.

“They can work one or two days a week virtually, and they can continue to see their patients that way,” Newman said. “We’re getting providers who want to extend their careers through virtual care.” 

Faith Polkey, CEO of South Carolina-based Beaufort-Jasper-Hampton Comprehensive Health Services Inc., said that though some providers may still be hesitant about virtual care, data-based insights could help convince them. 

“Patients are excited about it when we’re excited about it,” she said. “I don’t see how you would ever go back. It has to be a part of what we do.”

Check out this page for our complete coverage of ViVE 2025. Follow us on the social platform X at @HealthTechMag and join the conversation at #VIVE2025.