Why Rural Healthcare Needs Smarter Tech and Better Policy

As the healthcare system faces the potential threat of Medicaid cuts, rural hospitals and communities may be among the hardest hit.

In a recent conversation with Managed Healthcare Executive, Marcel Botha, founder and CEO of healthcare technology company 10XBeta, stressed that saving rural healthcare requires more than just policy—it demands on-the-ground innovation shaped by the people it’s meant to serve.

“You cannot design new solutions in isolation,” Botha said. “The core thesis for any proper design thinking approach to solving massive challenges is that you need to engage the end users, the stakeholders, where they are. It doesn’t mean you can displace them to a think tank in D.C. You have to go to them.”

10XBeta is part of the ARPA-H PARADIGM program, a federal research initiative that backs mobile solutions for underserved communities.

One project involves ruggedized, miniaturized CT scanners designed to fit in mobile units and reach rural areas lacking in advanced imaging services.

“Post-COVID, we saw a lot of instances of patients not having access to oncology screening and treatments because of lack of access to doctors,” Botha explained. “So improving the technologies and the solution with stakeholder input in a way that can scale across those communities—we could find a solution that is scalable and cost-effective.”

Botha also pointed to how policymakers can support this type of innovation.

“They should prioritize their reimbursement reforms for telehealth and mobile care such that everyone is incentivized to provide better quality care efficiently,” he said. “When you lose efficiency, you increase cost, and everyone is unhappy and people start disengaging rather than re-engaging.”

He also warned against decision-making that ignores the lived experience of rural Americans.

“To assume that they are not credible thinkers and not smart people is wrong and short-sighted for any politician who wants to be reelected,” he added.

On the other hand, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a federal initiative once led by Elon Musk, is shifting leadership and placing staff into agencies as it faces legal and structural uncertainty.

DOGE’s evolving role adds to the growing list of variables rural communities must now navigate.

However, one thing is clear: rural healthcare won’t improve unless innovation starts with those it’s meant to serve, Botha praised.