Strategies for Expanding Access to Healthcare in Rural Settings

Rural communities face multiple barriers to accessing healthcare, including limited facilities, lengthy travel distances, fewer providers, and long wait times for some services. These challenges may lead to delayed care and poorer health outcomes for Americans who live in rural communities. Westat helps ensure that healthcare providers in rural areas have the support they need to provide high-quality and high-value care by supporting coordinating centers, which promote sustainable access to care by improving efficiencies and increasing knowledge.

“Sustainable access to care depends not only on meeting immediate needs but on building systems that respond to changing populations and evolving healthcare demands,” said Anna Cupito, MA, a Westat Senior Research Associate. “That means expanding care delivery in practical, innovative ways, such as telehealth offerings, mobile clinics, and community-based solutions, while addressing infrastructure and resource limitations.” The Office of Rural Health Transformation (ORHT) at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) tackles these challenges daily, and Westat is well-positioned to support this work.

Westat supports a range of clients with their initiatives to enhance healthcare access in rural areas. Our researchers employ rigorous, data-driven methods to evaluate program effectiveness, identify best practices, and assess long-term impacts. This work enables policymakers to design solutions that effectively address the needs of rural communities. In addition, we serve as stewards for several coordinating centers and related initiatives, providing ongoing support and technical assistance.

Supporting Coordinating Centers

Westat provides comprehensive support to coordinating centers, helping clients manage complex, multisite programs with efficiency and rigor. We offer expertise in program administration, data collection strategies, and advanced analytic methods. Our teams facilitate collaboration across organizations, helping providers and facilities work together to provide high-quality care to patients who may be located across state lines. These coordinating centers also allow agencies to make programmatic and policy decisions that affect multistate rural health activities, including surveillance, technological advances, emergency response, and workforce issues.  

In this role, Westat helps participating organizations ensure their providers who work in frequently under-resourced rural settings have access to training and technology and feel supported as they deliver innovative solutions, foster collaboration, and translate research into improved health outcomes for their patients.