Barriers to Care Coordination in Rural Areas

Rural communities may experience challenges implementing care coordination strategies and activities. Specific barriers may include:

• Shortages of healthcare providers and other workforce
• Difficulty working with small, independent healthcare providers
• Limited access to specialty services and providers
• Legal, policy, and regulatory barriers
• Financing to support program development and implementation, especially health information technology
• Patient non-compliance and missed appointments

There are other common barriers that rural communities face – see Overview of Specific Issues in a Rural Context in the Rural Community Health Toolkit.