As our understanding of AI grows, so must our interest in how AI tools can help meet the needs of metropolitan and rural communities.
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Artificial intelligence is transforming hospitals and healthcare – a historic shift I have witnessed across the region. Yet as I meet people from Memphis to Mississippi and places in between, one thing becomes clear: The true value of AI will ultimately depend on whether its benefits benefit everyone, especially rural communities, which play an important role in the nation’s economic health.
Recent analysis of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis found that as of 2023, hospitals in metropolitan areas and those adjacent to cities were much more likely to adopt AI tools than their counterparts in more isolated rural areas. In metropolitan areas, nearly 44% of hospitals reported using AI for daily operations, compared to just 18% of rural hospitals not adjacent to metropolitan areas.
As spending on research and applications of AI in healthcare has exceeded 6 billion dollars in 2023the gap between the impact of these tools on hospitals in cities and those in rural areas remains wide. The reasons for this gap range from limited funding and understaffing to challenges with broadband and digital infrastructure.
The health risks of AI
AI promises to automate routine tasks, optimize scheduling and provide smarter diagnostics. These technologies, which can extend the reach of overburdened providers, are already generating productivity gains. However, the research highlights a major concern: Without investments and partnerships to disseminate AI know-how, rural hospitals could be further left behind, widening long-standing gaps in health care outcomes.
The risk is that innovation becomes a force that widens inequalities, instead of filling them.
I have witnessed the acute economic stress of rural hospitals in Greenwood, Miss., and Phillips County, Ark., two communities I serve in my job at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The struggles of Greenwood Leflore Hospital are emblematic of a national crisis. On the front lines of Mississippi’s hospital emergencies, the facility has resorted to emergency public funds and service reductions, slashing key services in hopes of eventual solvency. The recovery is still fragile, with ongoing threats related to federal reimbursement and critical access status.
In Phillips County, Helena Regional Medical Center adopted a rural emergency hospital model to escape permanent closure. This change eliminated many hospital and specialty services, but managed to keep emergency doors open in a region where health care options are already scarce.
What happens when hospitals close
The loss of a hospital widens the health disparities facing rural communities. It is also a big blow to the local economy. Hospitals are often a major employer and a key source of economic activity in rural cities and counties. Research of the National Institutes of Health found that when rural hospitals close, local economies collapse as jobs are lost and local businesses disappear.
As our understanding of AI grows, so must our interest in how AI tools can help meet the needs of metropolitan and rural communities. Evaluating AI in healthcare through a lens that considers rural communities will help us see the bigger picture.
Douglas Scarboro, senior vice president, manages the Memphis branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, which serves west Tennessee, eastern Arkansas and northern Mississippi. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the St. Louis Fed or the Federal Reserve.