Medicare Program Focuses on Rural Patients

“The effort that is beginning today will look at ways to shrink the distance between the Medicare beneficiary and the care they need,” notes Dr. Conway.

Dr. Peterson supports funding for patient transportation, but she’s skeptical about the value of telehealth for her patients.

“Telemedicine is difficult in this specialty, [because] the physical examination is so important in assessing disease activity,” says Dr. Peterson. She’d rather see funding to train more nurse practitioners in rheumatologic care to help reduce rural patients’ need to see the doctor.

“Working with specialty pharmacies to deliver medications in a more timely manner to rural areas would also be helpful.”

Susan Bernstein is a freelance medical journalist based in Atlanta.