Why does the network come first?
The network comes first because every digital health initiative depends on it. The Rural Health Transformation Program is funding telehealth, remote monitoring, data sharing, AI-assisted workflows and cybersecurity across New England and New York. Each of those projects succeeds or fails on the network underneath it.
Telehealth is now mainstream: the American Hospital Association reports that 86.9% of hospitals offered telehealth in 2022, up from 72.6% in 2018. As usage grows, so do the demands on rural networks that were often built for email and the EHR, not for video, connected devices and constant data exchange.
What does each digital health initiative need from the network?
| Initiative | What it needs from the network | What happens if the network falls short |
|---|---|---|
| Telehealth and virtual visits | Steady bandwidth, low delay and reliable Wi-Fi in every exam room | Frozen video, dropped calls, visits switched to audio-only or rescheduled |
| EHR and health information exchange | Always-on access across sites and secure links to outside systems | Slow charting, delayed results, staff working around the system |
| Remote patient monitoring | Reliable connections and secure handling of device data | Missed readings, gaps in monitoring, alert delays |
| Connected medical devices | Enough wireless capacity, plus segmentation that isolates devices | Device dropouts and a larger target for attackers |
| Imaging and diagnostics | High-capacity links between facilities | Large files that take too long to move to a reader or specialist |
| AI-assisted workflows | Fast, secure data access and room to grow | Tools that are slow, unreliable or unsafe to deploy |
| Patient and guest Wi-Fi | Separate, managed access | Guest traffic competing with clinical systems, or exposing them |
What are the barriers to telehealth in rural areas?
The barriers fall into two groups: outside the building and inside it. Outside, many rural communities still have limited broadband, and some patients lack devices or reliable home internet. Those are real constraints, and other programs, such as the FCC’s Rural Health Care Program, help address connectivity (see Part 4).
Inside the building, the barriers are often within a facility’s control:
- Wi-Fi built for a different era. Older access points struggle with the number of devices and video sessions clinics now support.
- Aging switches and routers. Equipment past its vendor’s support date gets no security patches or replacement parts.
- Flat networks. When medical devices, staff laptops and guest phones share one network, performance and security both suffer.
- Limited visibility. Without central monitoring, a small IT team learns about problems from frustrated clinicians.
- Single points of failure. One circuit or one firewall between a clinic and the rest of the organization means one failure can stop care.
How do you know if your network is holding back care?
Ask your IT lead and clinical managers five questions:
- Do video visits freeze or drop more than occasionally?
- Are there rooms or wings where Wi-Fi is weak or unavailable?
- Is any router, firewall, switch or access point past its end-of-support date?
- Can IT see the health of every site from one place, or do they find problems when users call?
- Are medical devices and guest Wi-Fi separated from clinical systems?
If the answer to two or more points to a problem, the network is likely limiting the return on your digital health investments. An infrastructure assessment turns these answers into a documented baseline, the same evidence an RHTP application needs.
What does a modern rural healthcare network include?
A modern rural healthcare network is reliable, secure and manageable by a small team. Regardless of vendor, it usually includes:
- Current-generation Wi-Fi designed for device density in exam rooms, patient areas and common spaces.
- Switching with enough capacity and power for access points, phones and connected devices.
- Resilient connections between sites, with backup paths so one outage doesn’t stop care.
- Next-generation firewalls with current threat protection.
- Segmentation that separates clinical systems, medical devices, staff and guests, and limits how far an attacker can move.
- Central, cloud-based management so one team can configure, monitor and fix every site and add new clinics quickly.
What results are healthcare providers seeing?
Healthcare organizations that modernized their networks report gains in reliability, staff time and cost. These results come from Extreme Networks customers, shared with permission; similar outcomes are possible with other enterprise platforms.
- Samaritan Health, serving patients across 10 locations with five IT engineers, replaced aging infrastructure that caused slow data transfers and inconsistent connectivity. Large imaging files now move between facilities, and the IT team spends less time troubleshooting.
- Prima CARE introduced central visibility and management across more than 20 medical offices. Network-related support tickets fell by 80%, and new locations came online without adding IT staff.
- OSF HealthCare modernized its network across 13 acute care facilities, reporting a 30% reduction in capital replacement costs and a 60% reduction in maintenance requirements.
- New Perspective Senior Living, moving rural communities off residential-grade wireless and in some cases paper records, reported care response times up to 50% faster.
Can RHTP funds pay for the network behind telehealth?
Often, yes. RHTP allows software, hardware and technical assistance for IT that improves efficiency, cybersecurity and patient outcomes, and several states in our region prioritize telehealth and digital health. Network equipment counts toward each state’s 20% cap on equipment and infrastructure, and each solicitation sets its own rules (see Part 3).
The strongest requests present the network as part of a clinical initiative, not as a standalone purchase: “expand telehealth to four clinics” with the Wi-Fi, switching and security it requires.
Build the foundation once, use it for everything
Telehealth, remote monitoring, data sharing and AI will keep arriving over the life of the program and well after it. A network designed for them now avoids paying for patchwork fixes with each new project.
CoreDefense helps rural healthcare organizations across New England and New York assess their networks, design vendor-neutral upgrades sized for lean IT teams, and align them with RHTP and other funding.
Frequently asked questions
What are the biggest barriers to telehealth in rural areas?
Outside the facility, limited broadband and patients without devices or home internet. Inside the facility, aging Wi-Fi and network equipment, flat networks that mix devices and guests with clinical systems, and limited visibility for small IT teams.
How can rural clinics improve telehealth?
Start with the network: reliable Wi-Fi in every exam room, current switches and firewalls, backup connections between sites, and central monitoring. Then standardize the telehealth platform and workflows on top of that foundation.
Can rural hospitals use telehealth effectively with their current network?
Many can, but networks built before telehealth and connected devices became routine often struggle. An infrastructure assessment shows where equipment is past its support date, where coverage is weak and where capacity runs out.
What are the benefits of telehealth in rural areas?
Telehealth reduces travel for patients, brings specialists to communities that lack them, supports behavioral health and follow-up care, and helps small clinical teams cover more patients. Those benefits depend on visits that connect reliably.
Does RHTP funding cover telehealth equipment and networks?
Often, when the state's plan prioritizes telehealth or digital health. Network equipment counts toward each state's 20% cap on equipment and infrastructure, and each solicitation sets its own rules.
What is network segmentation, and why does healthcare need it?
Segmentation divides one network into separate zones, for example clinical systems, medical devices, staff and guests. It keeps guest traffic from slowing clinical systems and limits how far an attacker can move if one device is compromised.
Sources
Figures checked against the sources below in October 2026. State programs change often; confirm current details with your state’s lead agency.
Telehealth adoption
Customer results and network requirements
- Extreme Networks, The Foundation for Improving Rural Healthcare (eBook): Samaritan Health, Prima CARE and OSF HealthCare results
- Extreme Networks, rural healthcare materials: New Perspective Senior Living result
- Extreme Networks, At-A-Glance and Connected Environment infographic: network requirements by initiative