Addressing Rural Health Inequities Through the Private Sector: A Framework for Deployment

Abstract

Rural health inequities do not steam from a singular problem, rather they are a series of intertwined access issues in which addressing one can often result in the surfacing of one or more others. The current public sector initiatives seeking to solve the overall problem and private companies’ technological solutions to specific inequities, each have their own shortfalls. As a result of the existing sociopolitical climate in America producing weariness in government involvement in healthcare, the private sector is uniquely positioned to solve rural health inequities but must do so consciously so to not further other inequities in their attempt to solve another. Additionally, in proposing private sector solutions, social impact theory must be considered to both analyze the profitability for private sector involvement and assess potential negative implications of privatized solutions in rural healthcare. This study presents a model which enables multi-company private sector solutions to collaboratively address rural health inequities without furthering new or existing problems. Considering the implications of private investment into rural health through the lens of social impact theory, the study draws on CDC and venture methodologies for analyzing programs and companies, creating a model for implementing private sector solutions for rural health inequities. In conclusion, this study produces a new framework for equitable investment in the rural health landscape, by creating an ecosystem which considers and anticipates follow-on discrete rural health inequities.