The Challenge
Around 200 rural hospitals have closed in the past 20 years, and more than 700 remain at risk. Rural communities have 2.4× fewer physicians per capita than urban ones — and a town under 10,000 people gains roughly one new primary-care physician every three years.
The pipeline is too small and rural towns are too far down the list. Hospital Care Connect is the smarter model: it builds on the clinicians your community already has.
A Day in the Program
The Tele-Hospitalist rounds with the NP on all admitted patients.
Evaluated during the scheduled tele-rounding block.
The physician enters notes and orders directly into the EMR.
The NP manages bedside care and coordinates with the nursing team.
A physician is available throughout for urgent consults and clinical questions.
Quality & Safety
Additional NP training plus ongoing physician mentoring, every step of the way.
90% of admissions fall into 15 diagnoses (CHF, pneumonia, COPD…), supported by standardized NP-Hospitalist order sets.
MD-Hospitalist consultation available on demand — day or night.
Coverage
Beyond the MD Hospitalist, we bring in specialists based on what your hospital actually needs — and we can cover night admissions. Your model, your specialties: we onboard the coverage that matches your hospital and scale it as needs change.
The Payoff
More admissions kept in-house instead of transferred away.
Specialist-guided management, delivered on site.
Care close to home, with family involved.
MD-Hospitalist backup available on demand.
More support and clearer plans of care.
Higher acuity and stronger margins sustain the hospital.
Economics
Annual staffing cost across three Critical Access Hospitals.
Traditional Hospitalist Model
$3.6M
per year — 12 physicians × $300K
NP-Hospitalist Model
$1.6M
per year — 9 NPs × $113K + 2 physicians × $300K
Annual Savings
$2M
per year — and patients stay in-system rather than lost to another network
A mobile telemedicine cart with high-resolution camera, electronic stethoscope, and a secure, HIPAA-compliant platform that can integrate with your EMR — typically funded through USDA & PSC or Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) grants, minimizing upfront hospital cost.
Professional services bill through the physician provider; the hospital bills facility services plus a ~$29 telemedicine originating-site fee per encounter. All-in tele-hospitalist coverage: $1,200 per day — predictable and transparent.
Talk to our team about a customized telemedicine program for your hospital or facility.