Overview of Rural Mobile Healthcare

The term mobile healthcare can include several forms of healthcare delivery outside of a traditional clinical setting, for example services provided in a standalone mobile health clinic or services provided by a care team in the home. Approximately 3,000 mobile clinics currently operate nationwide, and the number continues to grow. In 2023, the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT) reported that more than 150 Mobile Integrated Healthcare–Community Paramedicine programs are operating in the United States, and 30% reported serving rural and frontier communities. The main populations that mobile healthcare programs serve are low-income, middle-aged adults, and children.

Mobile healthcare programs improve access to healthcare and decrease reliance on the use of emergency services. Common types of care that can be provided in a mobile setting include:

Urgent care
Primary and preventive care
Immunizations
Health screenings, including vitals and blood pressure
Cancer screenings including breast cancer screening using mammography
Blood tests and other laboratory services

There are various service delivery models that mobile healthcare programs use to provide adaptable healthcare outside of traditional environments:

Mobile units are self-contained units that can deliver health services in otherwise geographically isolated areas, helping address barriers like transportation in rural areas.
Community paramedicine is a form of mobile integrated healthcare (MIH) that delivers patient-focused medical services outside of hospitals, using professionals such as paramedics and community health workers.
Home health models, which can include home-visiting or the hospital-at-home model, connect providers directly with people in the home who are at increased risk of adverse health outcomes and people who are less likely to get health and social services from clinics or service agencies.

For more information about mobile health delivery models, see Module 2.

Across these models, technologies like telemedicine, remote patient monitoring, and mHealth tools allow providers to offer primary care consultations, medication management, and continuous monitoring remotely when healthcare professionals and patients are not able to be in the same space.

For more information about specific mobile healthcare models being implemented in rural communities, please refer to the following related toolkits:

Resources to Learn More

Beyond the Clinic Walls: Exploring the Potential of Mobile Health
Synthesizes findings from 160+ studies on mobile vans delivering primary, mental health, addiction, and dental services to rural communities and other areas with limited access to care.
Organization(s): Georgetown University; Center on Health Insurance Reforms

Mobile Clinic Impact Tracker
Mapping System
A clickable map of rural mobile health resources across the United States.
Organization: Mobile Health Map