Rural Veteran Perceptions of a Virtual Health Resource Center in a Community-Based Setting.
Marcotte, Leah M.; Theis, Mariah; Geyer, John; Sayre, George; Rao, Mayuree; Pho, Kelvin; Gunnink, Eric; Reddy, Ashok
Why this matters
When a rural clinic closes, what replaces it has to be judged by the people who lost it. Interviews with 28 rural veterans found a community-based virtual health resource center easy to reach and viewed favorably, with requests to add on-site labs and electrocardiograms alongside the virtual care.
Abstract
Twenty-eight rural veterans were interviewed about perceptions of a novel rural, community-based Virtual Health Resource Center (VHRC). Almost all said the proposed site was easy to get to and most viewed VHRC services favorably. Veterans suggested expanding services to highly rural communities and adding on-site services (labs, EKG) to supplement virtual care. Veterans perceived the VHRC as replacement for services lost from a recent clinic closure.