Saurin Patel, M.D., chief of hospitalist medicine and emerging service lines, is featured in SmartBrief with a new bylined article examining one of rural healthcare’s most urgent challenges: where patients get medical care when local physicians and services are no longer available.
In the piece, Dr. Patel draws on more than a decade of clinical experience and his personal background growing up in rural Texas to explore the impact of provider shortages, hospital closures, and service-line reductions on rural communities. He outlines how hospital leaders can respond by building virtual care models around rural community-specific needs, leveraging hospitalists’ systemwide insight, and adopting virtual-first strategies that expand access without forcing patients to leave home.
The article also highlights the critical role of telemedicine in closing care gaps, improving quality of life for providers, and ensuring rural patients can receive timely, specialty care close to where they live.
👉 Read the full article on SmartBrief: “When the doctor is out, where can rural patients turn?”
