Leveraging Digital Technology to Enable a More Equitable Distribution of the Health Care Workforce

This brief examines the ability of three evidence-based programs leveraging digital technology—Project ECHO, telestroke, and tele-ICU—to relieve some of the pressures facing the rural health care workforce. In this brief, BPC also outlines several policy options, including regulatory and legislative reforms, that would increase the use of these programs. Although a variety of policy approaches are necessary to address the underlying drivers of workforce shortages, evidence-based telehealth and telementoring models have the potential to expand provider capacity.