Solving Rural American Health Care Challenges with Frugal Innovation: Low-Costs, High Returns
Feb 23, 2022
Rural America has historically been left behind when it comes to building sustainable health infrastructure. Aging health framework, limited access to broadband internet, relative physical isolation from commercial and government services, and less influence on policy changes given the smaller populations are common themes that pose challenges to effective care provision in rural sites, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this Health Affairs blog post, the authors describe challenges in care provision in rural health, investigate examples of frugal innovations in lower- and middle-income countries that could work in the current rural American context, and explore opportunities to encourage the adoption of these innovations. Although this pandemic has tested our health systems, these challenging times also present opportunities for frugal innovation in rural health care to better serve patients no matter how resource limited or physically distant they might be.
