Deciding Whether to Adopt AI in Rural Healthcare

The decision to invest in an AI solution should start with a clear understanding of the problem or need. Rural healthcare organizations serve populations that face challenges to healthcare access, such as long distances and a shortage of healthcare workers. AI technologies have the potential to support rural healthcare organizations by helping them work more efficiently, extend services, and support care delivery across distances.

When deciding whether to adopt AI, healthcare organization leaders should ask: What problem are we trying to solve — and can AI help?

To answer this question, organizations may consider the following:

Fit – Does AI address a specific problem, organizational need, or priority? What problems can AI help address (such as workforce shortages, access to specialty care, or administrative burden)?

Organizational readiness – Does the healthcare organization have the resources to implement AI, including funding, staffing, infrastructure, technology, training, and implementation support?

Cost – Is the AI tool affordable and scalable? Is it possible to start small and scale up over time? How many licenses of the tool are needed?

Buy-in and support – Do healthcare providers and staff support the adoption of the AI tool? Is there a clinical champion to support the adoption of the AI tool?

Data – What data does the tool use? Where are the data stored? Who has access? How are privacy and security protected? How is the AI tool trained? How long are data retained?

Oversight – What policies, oversight, and guardrails are needed to ensure safe, ethical, and transparent use of AI? These may include a governance committee, privacy standards, AI use policies, trainings, bias monitoring, incident reporting, and a mechanism to pause AI tools in the event of an issue.

Successfully implementing AI in healthcare depends on several factors, including resources, leadership support, clinician and staff involvement and buy-in, infrastructure, staff training, implementation support, and patient trust and engagement.