PPACA's Advance Poses Challenges for Rural Healthcare

"We think that it is a very laudable goal. HIT can probably nationwide reduced medical errors and lead the way to telemedicine which we believe is a way to overcome a lot of access issues in rural areas," she says. "But a lot of these facilities are small and they don't have the resources to purchase the materials or they don't have the staff. Often your CFO is also your HIT guy. So it is a capital issue. It's a workforce training issue."

"Some areas don't even have the broadband capabilities to do this. It is a big, expensive burden for a lot of small rural health facilities to bear," she says.

"Yes everybody wants to be up-to-speed. We love the carrot and we see the stick coming, but we need to realize that not everybody is on a level playing field. Some folks are going to need a little more time and a little more technical help."